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LADDIE  AND  VI  WERE  BEING  TAKEN  OUT  ON  THE  BROAD  BAY. 
±ix  Little  Bunkers  at  Captain  Ben's  Frontispiece— {Page  159) 


SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS 
AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 


BY 

LAURA  LEE  HOPE 

Author  of  "Six  Little  Bunkers  at  Grandma  Bell's,"  "Six 

Little  Bunkers  at  Aunt  Jo's,"  "Six  Little  Bunkers 

at  Uncle  Fred's,"  Etc. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAF 

PUBLISHERS 


<P 


BOOKS 

By  LAURA  LEE  HOPE 

12mo.     Cloth.     Illustrated. 


THE    SIX     LITTLE     BUNKERS     SERIES 

SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  GRANDMA  BELL'S 
SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  AUNT  JO'S 
SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  COUSIN  TOM'S 
SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  GRANDPA  FORD'S 
SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  UNCLE  FRED'S 
SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 


THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  SERIES 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  IN  THE  COUNTRY 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  AT  THE  SEASHORE 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  AT  SCHOOL 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  AT  SNOW  LODGE 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  ON  A  HOUSEBOAT 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  AT  MEADOW  BROOK 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  AT  HOME 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  IN  A  GREAT  CITY 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  ON  BLUEBERRY  ISLAND 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  ON  THE  DEEP  BLUE  SEA 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  IN  THE  GREAT  WEST 


THE  BUNNY  BROWN  SERIES 

BUNNY  BROWN  AND  HIS  SISTER  SUE 

BUNNY  BROWN  AND  HIS  SISTER  SUE  ON  GRANDPA'S 

FARM 
BUNNY    BROWN    AND    HIS    SISTER    SUE    PLAYING 

CIRCUS 
BUNNY  BROWN  AND  HIS  SISTER  SUE  AT  AUNT  LU'S 

CITY  HOME 
BUNNY    BROWN    AND    HIS    SISTER    SUE    AT    CAMP 

REST-A-WHILE 
BUNNY   BROWN  AND  HIS  SISTER   SUE  IN  THE  BIG 

WOODS 
BUNNY  BROWN  AND  HIS  SISTER  SUE  ON  AN  AUTO 

TOUR 
BUNNY   BROWN   AND   HIS   SISTER  SUE   AND   THEIR 

SHETLAND  PONY 
BUNNY    BROWN   AND   HIS   SISTER   SUE   AT   CHRIST- 
MAS TREE  COVE 


THE  OUTDOOR  GIRLS  SERIES 

(Nine  Titles) 


GROSSET    &    DUNLAP,    PUBLISHERS,    NEW    YORK 

Copyright,   1920,  hy 
GROSSET  &  DUNLAP 


Six  Little  Bunkers  at  Captain  Ben's 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  The  Smoking  Chimney  1 

II.  The  Climbing  Man   11 

III.  The   Invitation    22 

IV.  Another  Vacation   32 

V.  The  Missing  Watch  44 

VI.  Off  to  Grand  View  53 

VII.  The  Storm   62 

VIII.  A  Queer  Night   73 

IX.  In  the  Ditch   83 

X.  The  Bad  Ram   91 

XI.  The  Apple  Boy  100 

XII.  Offering  Help   110 

XIII.  The  Missing  Boy 122 

XIV.  In  the  Old  Log  133 

XV.  The  Bunkers  Get  Together 142 

XVI.  An  Unexpected  Ride  151 

XVII.  The  Ragged  Men  160 

XVIII.  More  Things  Gone  168 

XIX.  Lots  of  Fun  180 


iv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XX.  The  Flood   189 

XXI.  An  Island  Picnic  199 

XXII.  After  the  Tramps  211 

XXIII.  The  Old  Satchel  219 

XXIV.  Tad's  News   227 

XXV.  The  Capture  .- 234 


SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS 
AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

CHAPTER   I 

THE  SMOKING   CHIMNEY 

"One,  two,  three,  four,  five,  six !" 

Russ  Bunker  counted  thus,  pointing  his 
finger  at  five  children  in  turn,  until  he  reached 
himself,  when  he  stooped  down  and  turned  a 
somersault  on  the  floor  of  the  attic. 

"Oh,  look  at  Russ!"  cried  Rose,  the  sister 
nearest  him  in  age.     "How  funny  he  did  it!" 

"What  made  you  do  it,  Russ  ?"  asked  Violet, 
or  Vi  as  she  was  called  for  short.  "What 
made  you  flop  over  that  way?  Did  it  hurt 
your  head  ?  Did  you  get  any  splinters  in  your 
hands?    Did  you " 

"Say!     Hold  on  a  minute!     Wait!"  cried 

Russ,  with  a  laugh,  as  Vi  stood  with  her  mouth 

open  all  ready  to  ask  another  question.     "If 

we're  going  to  play  the  steamboat  game  I  can't 

answer  all  those  questions." 

1 


2       SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Are  you  going  to  play  the  steamboat 
game?"  cried  Vi,  jumping  up  and  down  so  that 
her  curly  hair  bobbed  back  and  forth  in  and 
out  of  her  grey  eyes.  "Oh,  what  fun!  But 
please  tell  me,  Russ,  what  made  you  count  us 
all  that  way,  as  if  we  were  going  to  play  tag? 
And  what  made  you  flop  over,  and  what " 

"There  you  go  again  with  your  questions!" 
interrupted  Russ,  with  another  laugh.  "You 
can't  seem  to  stop,  Vi.  You  don't  give  any 
one  else  a  chance." 

"And  I  know  a  nice  riddle  I  can  ask,  too," 
broke  in  Laddie,  who  was  his  sister  Violet's 
twin.  "I  know  a  riddle  about  what  makes  the 
paper  stick  on  the  wall  and  if  it  falls  off " 

"I  asked  first!"  broke  in  Vi.  "Just  tell  me 
what  made  you  count  us  all  out  just  as  if  we 
were  going  to  play  tag,  Russ,  and  then  what 
made  you  do  a  flop-over.  Tell  me  that,  and 
then  we'll  play  the  steamboat  game." 

"All  right,  I'll  answer  just  those  questions 
and  no  more,"  promised  Russ.  "Then  we'll 
have  some  fun.  I  counted  you  all  out — one, 
two,  three,  four,  five — six — that's  me — be- 
cause I  wanted  to  see  if  we  were  all  here." 

As  there  were  six  little  Bunkers,  it  was 


THE  SMOKING  CHIMNEY  3 

sometimes  needful  to  count  them,  one  by  one, 
to  make  sure  all  were  on  hand.  This  was 
what  Russ  had  done. 

"And  I  turned  a  somersault  when  I  came  to 
myself,  just  because  I  felt  so  good,"  the  dark- 
haired  boy  went  on  with  a  merry  whistle. 
"Come  on,  we'll  play  the  steamboat  game  now. 
Rose,  you  please  get  out  the  spinning  wheel, 
and  Margy  and  Mun  Bun,  you  bring  over  the 
littlest  footstools.  Don't  bring  the  big  ones, 
'cause  they're  too  heavy  for  you." 

"Shall  we  sit  on  'em  footstools  ?"  asked  Mun 
Bun,  as  he  shook  his  golden  hair  out  of  his 
blue  eyes. 

"Yes,  you  sit  on  one  footstool  and  Margy 
can  sit  on  the  other,"  said  Russ.  "Now,  don't 
both  of  you  try  to  sit  on  the  same  one,  or 
there'll  be  a  fuss,  and  we'll  never  get  to  play- 
ing. Can  you  bring  the  spinning  wheel  all 
alone,  Rose?" 

"Yes,  it  isn't  heavy,"  answered  Rose,  the 
oldest  girl  of  the  six  little  Bunkers.  "It  drags 
over  the  floor  easy."  And  as  she  pulled  to  the 
middle  of  the  attic,  from  the  dark  corner  where 
it  had  stood  all  summer,  a  big,  old-fashioned 
spinning  wheel,  Rose  hummed  a  little  song. 


4       SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S     • 

She  generally  was  humming  or  singing,  when 
she  was  not  helping  her  mother  in  the  house- 
work. For  where  there  were  so  many  chil- 
dren, there  were  more  matters  to  attend  to 
than  Mrs.  Bunker,  Norah,  the  Irish  cook,  or 
Jerry  Simms,  the  odd-chore  man,  could  well 
look  after,  and  Rose  was  glad  to  aid.  She  was 
a  regular  little  "mother's  helper,"  and  her 
father  often  called  her  that. 

So  while  Rose  brought  over  the  spinning 
wheel  and  Margy  and  Mun  Bun  the  footstools, 
Laddie  and  Violet  appealed  to  their  older 
brother. 

"I  want  to  do  something!"  complained  Vi. 

"So  do  I,"  added  Laddie.  "If  I  don't  do 
something  I'm  goin'  to  think  up  another  riddle. 
I  know  one  about " 

"No,  you  don't!"  cried  Russ,  with  a  laugh. 
"No  more  riddles  until  we  get  the  steamboat 
started.  Here,  you  bring  over  some  of  the 
bigger  footstools,  Laddie.  And  Vi  can  help 
you.  Now  we're  all  working — all  six  of  us;" 
and  as  Russ  spoke  he  began  dragging  out  of 
the  corners  of  the  attic  some  chairs  and  light 
boards,  with  which  he  intended  to  build  the 
"steamboat." 


THE  SMOKING  CHIMNEY  5 

Of  course  it  was  not  a  regular  vessel,  nor 
did  it  sail  on  water.  In  fact,  there  was  no 
water  in  the  attic  of  the  house  where  the  six 
little  Bunkers  lived.  There  was  no  water  even 
when  it  rained,  for  the  roof  had  no  holes  in 
it,  and  the  attic  made  a  lovely  place  for  the 
children  to  play. 

It  was  not  raining  now,  and,  if  they  had 
wished,  the  children  could  have  had  fun  out  in 
the  yard.  But  they  had  just  returned  from 
a  jolly  vacation  spent  in  the  open  on  Uncle 
Fred's  ranch  in  the  West,  and  perhaps  they 
felt  that  to  play  indoors  would  be  a  welcome 
change.  They  were  as  brown  as  berries  from 
having  been  so  much  out  in  the  sun  and  the 
wind. 

"All  aboard!  All  aboard  the  steamboat!" 
called  Russ,  when  the  boards,  chairs,  foot- 
stools, spinning  wheel  and  other  things  had 
been  put  in  place  near  the  center  of  the  attic. 
"All  aboard!  Toot!  Toot!  Don't  anybody 
fall  into  the  water!  Hand  me  that  bundle, 
Rose,  please,"  said  Russ  to  his  sister  nearest 
him  in  age. 

"Has  it  got  life  preservers  in  it?"  asked 
Violet.     "If  it  has,  can  I  put  one  on,  and  will 


6        SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

you  let  me  make  believe  fall  in  the  water,  Russ  ? 
And  will  you  pull  me  out,  and " 

"There  you  go  again!  As  bad  as  ever!" 
laughed  Russ.  "No,  these  aren't  life  pre- 
servers !  They're  sugar  cookies,  and  I  got  them 
for  us  to  eat  on  the  steamboat!  All  aboard! 
Toot!    Toot!" 

"Oh,  sugar  cookies!  I'm  glad!"  cried  Mun 
Bun.  "I  likes  sugar  cookies,  don't  you, 
Margy?"  he  asked,  as  he  sat  close  to  his  little 
sister  on  the  footstool. 

"I  'ikes  any  kind,"  she  lisped,  a  form  of  talk 
she  had  not  altogether  gotten  over  since  her 
"baby"  days. 

"Here  we  go!"  cried  Russ  at  last,  and  he 
took  his  place  in  a  chair  in  front  of  the  big 
spinning  wheel,  the  package  of  cookies  beside 
him.  The  spinning  wheel  was  the  only  part 
of  the  "steamboat"  that  really  moved.  It 
could  be  turned  around  in  either  direction,  and 
was  almost  as  large,  and  almost  the  same 
shape,  as  the  big  steering  wheel  on  the  big,  real 
steamers.  Of  course  it  had  no  "spokes"  on 
the  outer  rim  to  take  hold  of,  but  Russ  did  not 
need  them.  The  spinning  wheel  was  an  old 
one  that  had  belonged  to  Mrs.  Bunker's  great- 


THE  SMOKING  CHIMNEY  7 

grandmother,  and  though  the  children  were 
allowed  to  play  with  it  they  were  always  told 
they  must  be  very  careful  not  to  break  it.  And 
I  must  do  them  the  credit  to  say  that  they 
were,  nearly  always,  very  careful. 

"All  aboard!"  called  Russ  again,  just  as  he 
had  often  heard  the  men  on  real  boats  say  it. 
"Don't  anybody  fall  off." 

"I  don't  want  to  fall  off  till  I  gets  my 
cookie,"  remarked  Mun  Bun. 

"And  if  we  fall  we  don't  have  to  fall  as  far 
as  Russ  does,  'cause  he's  so  high  up  on  a  chair 
and  we're  low  down,  on  little  stools,"  added 
Margy. 

"That's  so !"  laughed  Russ,  as  he  twisted  the 
spinning  wheel  around,  to  make  believe  steer 
the  steamboat  out  into  the  middle  of  the  pre- 
tend river. 

Of  course  the  steamboat  did  not  move  at  all. 
It  just  remained  in  one  place  on  the  attic  floor. 
But  the  six  little  Bunkers  did  not  mind  that. 
They  pretended  that  they  were  steaming  along, 
and,  every  once  in  a  while,  Russ  would  toot 
the  whistle,  or  give  some  order  such  as  might 
be  given  on  a  real  boat. 

"When  are  we  goin'  to  eat?"  asked  Laddie, 


8        SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

after  a  time,  during  which  the  boat  had  made 
make-believe  stops  at  London,  Paris  and  As- 
bury  Park.  "Can't  I  have  a  sugar  cookie, 
Russ?" 

"Yes,  I  guess  it's  time  to  eat  now,"  agreed 
the  older  boy. 

"Whoa,  then!"  cried  Laddie. 

"What  are  you  saying  'whoa'  for?"  de- 
manded Russ,  looking  around. 

"  'Cause  I  want  the  steamboat  to  stop,"  an- 
swered Laddie.  "It  jiggles  so — make  believe, 
you  know — I'm  afraid  I'll  drop  my  sugar 
cookie  in  the  water." 

"You  mustn't  say  'whoa'  on  a  boat!"  went 
on  Russ. 

"Laddie  was  thinking  he  was  out  on  Uncle 
Frank's  ranch,  riding  a  cow  pony,  I  guess," 
said  Rose.  "That's  why  he  said  'whoa' ;  didn't 
you,  Laddie?" 

"I  guess  so,"  answered  the  little  fellow. 
"And  I  know  a  riddle  about  a  cow.  Why  is  it 
that  a  brown  cow  eats  green  grass  that  makes 
white  milk  and  turns  into  yellow  butter?" 

"That  isn't  a  riddle — it's  just  something 
funny.  And,  besides,  you've  said  that  before," 
said  Rose. 


THE  SMOKING  CHIMNEY  9 

"Well,  anyhow,  can't  I  have  a  sugar 
cookie?"  asked  Laddie.  "And  we'll  make  be- 
lieve the  steamboat  has  stopped,  and  we  can 
pretend  we're  on  a  picnic." 

"All  right,"  agreed  Russ,  as  he  gave  the 
spinning  wheel  a  few  more  turns.  "I'll  bank 
the  fires — that  means  I'll  turn  'em  off  so  they 
won't  get  so  hot — and  we'll  go  ashore." 

"All  ashore !"  yelled  Laddie. 

"Is  they  enough  sugar  cookies  for  all  of 
us?"  asked  Mun  Bun,  as  he  and  Margy  arose 
from  the  low  stools  where  they  had  been  sit- 
ting. 

"Oh,  yes,  plenty,"  Russ  answered.  "I  asked 
Norah  to  put  a  lot  of  'em  in  a  bag  and  I  guess 
she  did.  Here,  Rose,  you  can  pass  'em  around, 
and  I'll  tie  the  steamboat  fast." 

"Do  you  have  to  tie  it  same  as  Uncle  Fred 
tied  his  cow  ponies?"  asked  Vi. 

"Pretty  near  the  same,"  her  biggest  brother 
answered.    "And  after  a  while  we'll " 

Russ  stopped  suddenly  and  looked  at  his 
sister  Rose.  She  had  just  passed  some  of  the 
cookies  to  Mun  Bun  and  Margy,  and  was  get- 
ting ready  to  hand  one  each  to  Laddie  and  Vi, 
when  she  saw  something  that  made  her  point 


10     SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

to  the  big  brick  chimney  which  passed  through 
the  roof  in  the  middle  of  the  attic. 

"Look!    Look!"  exclaimed  Rose. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Russ. 

"The  chimney!  It's  smoking!"  went  on 
Rose. 

"That's  what  chimbleys  is  for,"  said  Laddie. 
"I  know  a  funny  riddle  about  smoke  in  a  chim- 
bley  and " 

"But  the  smoke  from  the  chimney  shouldn't 
come  out  into  the  room  or  the  attic,"  inter- 
rupted Rose.  "I  can  smell  it,  and  I  can  see  it! 
Oh,  Russ !"  she  cried. 

"Yes,  you  can  see  it  and  smell  it!"  agreed 
Russ.  As  he  spoke  quite  a  puff  of  thick  smoke 
came  into  the  attic.  It  seemed  to  spurt  right 
out  of  the  side  of  the  chimney,  at  a  place  where 
some  bricks  were  rather  loose  and  had  large 
cracks  between  them. 

"Oh,  Russ !"  cried  Rose.  "Maybe  the  house 
is  on  fire!" 


CHAPTER    II 


THE    CLIMBING    MAN 


Almost  as  soon  as  she  had  spoken  these 
words,  Rose  wished  she  had  not.  For  looks  of 
fear  came  over  the  faces  of  Mun  Bun  and 
Margy,  and  Laddie  and  Vi,  though  a  little 
older,  also  acted  as  if  frightened.  And  yet 
Rose  had  spoken  what  was  in  her  mind.  The 
smoke  poured  out  into  the  attic  through  a  hole 
in  the  chimney.  It  was  getting  thicker  and 
more  murky,  and  Mun  Bun  began  to  cough. 

"Is  there  a  fire?"  asked  Violet. 

"Yes,  I  think  so,"  answered  Rose.    And  then 

it  came  to  her  mind  that  she  must  not  frighten 

the   smaller  children,   so   she   quickly   added: 

"But  I  guess  it's  only  a  little  fire.     Maybe 

Norah  is  burning  up  papers  in  the  stove  and 

they  smoke.    I  heard  her  tell  mother  there  was 

a  lot  of  trash  to  be  burned  since  we  came  back 

from  Uncle  Fred's  ranch." 

11 


12      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Well,  she  must  be  burnin'  a  awful  lot !"  ex- 
claimed Laddie,  and  he  choked  as  he  swallowed 
a  mouthful  of  smoke. 

Just  then  a  larger  cloud  of  it  seemed  to  pour 
out  into  the  attic,  and  from  outside  the  home 
of  the  six  little  Bunkers,  and  from  the  rooms 
below  them,  came  shouts  and  exclamations. 

"Oh,  Russ !"  exclaimed  Rose,  looking  at  her 
older  brother,  "something  is  the  matter,  I'm 
sure !" 

"I  guess  there  is,"  he  agreed,  as  he  ran  to  a 
window.  "I'll  let  some  of  the  smoke  out  and 
then " 

He  suddenly  ceased  speaking  as  he  looked 
to  the  street  below.  To  the  ears  of  the  other 
children,  playing  in  the  attic,  came  a  loud 
clatter  and  clang. 

"Is  it  the  puffers  ?"  asked  Mun  Bun,  meaning 
the  fire  apparatus. 

"Yes,  the  engines  are  all  out  in  front  of  our 
house!"  cried  Russ.  "We'd  better  get  down 
out  of  here.    It's  too  far  to  jump !" 

"Don't  dare  jump !"  screamed  Rose.  "Come 
on,  Russ.  You  take  Vi  and  Laddie  and  I'll 
look  after  Mun  Bun  and  Margy."  And  she 
caught   the   two   youngest   children   by   their 


THE   CLIMBING  MAN  13 

hands  and  Russ  did  the  same  for  the  twins,  Vi 
and  Laddie. 

The  smoke  continued  to  grow  thicker  in  the 
attic,  and  the  cloud  of  it  was  now  so  dense  that 
the  chimney  itself,  whence  the  choking  fumes 
came,  could  scarcely  be  seen. 

But  under  the  leadership  of  Russ  and  Rose 
the  four  smaller  children  were  being  led  to 
safety,  and  while  this  is  going  on  I  shall  take 
the  chance  to  tell  some  of  my  new  readers 
something  of  the  other  books  in  this  series,  as 
well  as  about  the  six  boys  and  girls  who  are  to 
have  a  part  in  this  story. 

Six  was  the  number  of  the  little  Bunkers. 
That  is,  there  was  an  even  half  dozen  of  them. 
Russ,  aged  nine  years,  was  a  great  whistler 
and  a  lad  who  was  often  engaged  in  making 
toys,  or  building  something,  like  make-believe 
steamboats  or  engines,  to  amuse  his  smaller 
brothers  and  sisters. 

Next  to  Russ  was  Rose,  a  year  younger. 
As  I  have  told  you,  she  was  a  great  help  to 
her  mother — a  girl  A  cheerful,  sunny  disposi- 
tion, always  making  the  best  of  everything. 

Next  came  Violet  and  Laddie.  They  each 
had  curly  hair  and  gray  eyes,  and  were  twins. 


14      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  DEN'S 

As  you  have  noticed  Vi  was  a  great  one  for 
asking  questions.  It  did  not  seem  to  matter 
to  her  what  she  asked  questions  about,  nor  how 
many,  as  long  as  she  could  keep  some  one  busy 
answering  them,  or  trying  to  answer.  For  not 
always  could  answers  be  found  to  Vi's  ques- 
tions. Laddie,  her  twin  brother,  had  a  differ- 
ent curious  habit.  He  was  always  asking 
riddles — at  least  he  called  them  riddles,  though 
some  of  them  were  as  funny  as  Vi's  questions. 

Last  of  all  in  the  half  dozen  little  Bunkers 
were  Margy  and  Mun  Bun.  Margy's  real 
name  was  Margaret,  and  the  complete  name  of 
her  small  brother  was  Munroe  Ford  Bunker. 

Now  that  we  have  finished  with  the  children 
we  will  start  on  the  grown-ups  of  the  family. 
Daddy  Bunker's  name  was  Charles,  and  he  was 
in  the  real  estate  business  in  Pineville,  Penn- 
sylvania. Mother  Bunker's  name  was  Amy, 
and  before  her  marriage  she  was  Miss  Amy 
Bell. 

Then  there  was  Norah  O'Grady,  the  good- 
natured  cook,  and  Jerry  Simms,  an  old  soldier 
who  could  tell  fine  stories  about  the  time  he 
fought  in  battle.  Of  course  Norah  and  Jerry 
were  not  real  Bunkers — that  is,  they  were  not 


THE   CLIMBING   MAN  15 

members  of  the  family.  But  they  had  been  in 
the  home  of  our  friends  so  long  that  the  chil- 
dren began  to  think  of  these  two  kind  servants 
as  almost  some  of  their  own  relatives. 

There  were  enough  other  relatives  in  the 
Bunker  family,  too.  There  was  Grandma  Bell, 
and  the  first  book  of  this  series  is  named  "Six 
Little  Bunkers  at  Grandma  Bell's."  After 
some  glorious  days  at  their  grandmother's,  the 
six  little  Bunkers  went  to  Aunt  Jo's,  next  to 
Cousin  Tom's,  after  that  to  Grandpa  Ford's, 
and  then  they  went  out  West  to  a  ranch.  The 
story  of  their  trip  there,  and  what  they  did, 
is  set  down  in  the  volume  just  before  this  one. 
It  is  called  "Six  Little  Bunkers  at  Uncle 
Fred's,"  and  Russ,  Rose,  and  the  others  had 
not  long  returned  from  this  enjoyable  visit 
before  they  began  a  new  series  of  adventures. 

The  first  of  them  I  have  already  started  to 
relate  to  you.  It  is  about  the  fire,  or  at  least 
the  smoke,  in  the  attic  where  they  had  been 
playing  steamboat. 

"Russ!"  exclaimed  Rose,  as  she  made  her 
way  through  the  smoke-filled  room  to  the 
stairs,  leading  Mun  Bun  and  Margy,  while  her 
oldest  brother  followed  with  Vi  and  Laddie, 


16      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"oh,  Russ!"  went  on  Rose,  "y°u  didn't  start 
any  fire  in  the  make-believe  boiler  of  the  pre- 
tend steamboat,  did  you?" 

"Course — course  not!"  answered  Russ, 
somewhat  choking  over  the  words,  for  some 
smoke  got  down  his  throat.  "I  never  play  with 
matches !" 

"Well,  there's  a  fire  somewhere!"  declared 
Rose. 

"Maybe  it's  across  the  street,"  suggested 
Russ,  "and  the  smoke  just  blew  in  the  win- 
dows." But,  even  as  he  spoke,  he  looked  over 
his  shoulder  and  saw  smoke  pouring  out  of  a 
place  in  the  attic  chimney  where  some  bricks 
were  broken  loose  and  large  cracks  showed. 

"It's  our  chimney  that's  on  fire,  all  right," 
said  Russ  to  himself.  "It's  the  first  fire  we 
ever  had.  I  want  to  see  the  engines  work  and 
squirt  water !" 

Down  the  attic  stairs  to  the  second  floor 
went  the  six  little  Bunkers.  There  was  very 
little  smoke  on  the  second  floor,  and  as  Russ 
and  Rose  were  leading  the  four  smaller  ones 
toward  the  head  of  the  stairs  they  were  met  by 
their  mother  and  Norah  rushing  up,  each  of 
them  out  of  breath  and  much  excited. 


THE   CLIMBING   MAN  17 

"Oh,  children!  are  you  all  right?"  gasped 
Mrs.  Bunker.  "I  have  been  so  frightened. 
You're  all  right,  aren't  you?  Not  hurt  or 
burned?" 

"We're  all  right,  Mother!"  Russ  hastened 
to  say. 

"Is  our  house  on  fire?"  demanded  Vi.  Even 
in  this  excitement  she  could  not-  forget  to  ask 
a  question. 

"Yes,  darlin',  the  house  is  burnin'!"  cried 
Norah.  "Oh,  sorrow  the  day  I  should  live  to 
see  this.  Oh,  come  to  Norah,  little  darlin's!" 
and  she  tried  to  gather  in  her  arms  all  four  of 
the  smallest  children  at  once. 

"Don't  frighten  them !"  called  Mrs.  Bunker, 
as  she  caught  up  Mun  Bun  in  one  arm,  and 
Margy  in  the  other.  "The  house  isn't  exactly 
on  fire,  children.  It's  just  the  chimney.  A  lot 
of  soot  got  in  while  we  were  at  Uncle  Fred's, 
and  it  is  the  soot  which  is  now  burning." 

"But  I  heard  a  fireman  say  if  the  chimney 
fire  wasn't  soon  put  out  it  might  set  the  house 
afire!"  declared  Norah,  as  all  of  them  started 
down  the  front  stairs. 

There  was  plenty  of  excitement  now  in  the 
home  of  the  six  little  Bunkers.    Outside  could 


18      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

be  heard  the  whistle  of  a  fire  engine  and  the 
shouts  of  many  men  and  boys. 

Russ,  Rose,  the  other  four  children  and 
Mrs.  Bunker  and  Norah  safely  reached  the 
first  floor.  There  was  no  smoke  at  all  here, 
as  yet.  As  Russ  hurried  out  on  the  porch  he 
saw  Jerry  Simms  running  around  holding  the 
garden  hose,  out  of  the  nozzle  of  which  trickled 
a  little  stream  of  water. 

"Let  me  get  at  it !"  cried  the  old  soldier,  who 
acted  as  gardener  and  furnace  man  by  turns. 
"Let  me  get  at  the  blaze !  I'll  put  the  fire  out 
if  I  can  see  it !" 

"You  won't  put  much  of  a  blaze  out  with 
that  stream!"  exclaimed  a  fireman  in  a  rubber 
coat,  as  he  hurried  up  the  steps.  "There  isn't 
enough  force  to  it." 

"Oh,  I  forgot  to  turn  the  water  on  full!" 
said  Jerry  Simms.  "Wait  a  minute.  I'll  go 
turn  it  on  full  force,  and  then  I'll  put  out  the 
blaze,"  he  said,  putting  the  hose  down  on  the 
porch  and  hurrying  to  the  faucet  which  came 
through  the  foundation  wall  of  the  house. 

"That  won't  be  any  good  for  this  fire,  no 
matter  how  much  force  of  water  you  have," 
cried  the  fireman.    "The  fire's  down  inside  the 


THE   CLIMBING   MAN  19 

chimney,  and  we  can't  get  at  it  until  we  climb 
up  on  the  roof  and  stick  a  hose  down  the  flue." 

"Is  that  what  you  are  going  to  do?"  asked 
Mrs.  Bunker,  who  was  not  frightened,  now 
that  she  knew  her  children  were  safe. 

"Yes,  we  want  to  get  up  on  the  roof  so  v/e 
can  turn  a  hose  down  the  chimney,"  the  fire- 
man answered.     "But  we  can't  get  up!" 

"Why  not?"  asked  Russ,  who  stood  near 
his  mother  on  the  porch,  while  the  yard  and 
the  street  around  the  house  were  rapidly  fill- 
ing with  people. 

"Our  ladder  isn't  long  enough,"  the  fireman 
answered.  "We  had  a  long  ladder,  but  it  is 
broken,  and  without  it  we  can't  get  up  on  the 
roof  to  pull  up  a  hose  and  squirt  water  down 
the  chimney." 

"But  something  must  be  done!"  cried  Mrs. 
Bunker.  "The  more  the  chimney  fire  burns, 
the  hotter  it  will  get,  and  it  may  set  the  whole 
house  ablaze  before  long.  Something  must  be 
done!" 

"Yes'm,"  agreed  the  fireman.  "We're  try- 
ing to  do  something.  We  got  two  engines 
pumping,  and  the  men  are  on  the  ground  try- 
ing to  shoot  the  water  up  in  the  air  and  let 


20      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

some  of  it  fall  down  the  chimney  hole.  But 
they  aren't  having  very  good  luck.  I  came  to 
see  if  you  had  a  long  ladder." 

"Oh,  a  long  ladder!"  cried  the  mother  of 
the  six  little  Bunkers.  "You  had  better  ask 
Jerry  Simms." 

"If  he's  the  old  man  running  around  with 
the  garden  hose,  it  won't  do  much  good  to  ask 
him,"  said  the  fireman  with  a  smile.  "He  is  so 
excited  he  hardly  knows  what  he  is  doing." 

"Here  comes  Jerry  now ;  ask  him,"  suggested 
Mrs.  Bunker  again,  while  Norah  stood  hold- 
ing to  Mun  Bun,  Laddie,  Margy  and  Violet — 
at  least  she  was  trying  to  hold  them,  though, 
every  now  and  again,  one  of  the  children  would 
break  away  and  run  to  the  front  fence  to  watch 
the  puffing  engines. 

"Have  you  a  long  ladder — one  that  will 
reach  to  the  roof — so  we  can  climb  up  and  pull 
a  hose  to  the  chimney  top  ?"  asked  the  fireman, 
while  the  wind  blew  a  swirl  of  black  smoke 
around  those  on  the  porch. 

"A  long  ladder?  Oh,  I  don't  know — I — oh, 
good  land!  I  turned  the  water  off  instead  of 
on,"  cried  Jerry,  as  he  looked  at  the  nozzle  of 
the  garden  hose  which  he  had  laid  down  on 


THE   CLIMBING  MAN  21 

the  porch.  Not  even  a  trickle  was  coming 
from  it  now. 

"Never  mind  that !  Get  us  a  ladder !"  cried 
the  fireman.  "Ours  is  broken,  and  if  we  don't 
douse  this  chimney  pretty  soon  there'll  be  a  bad 
blaze." 

"What  is  it  you  want  ?"  cried  a  man,  making 
his  way  to  the  stoop  through  a  crowd  of  people 
in  the  yard  around  the  Bunker  house. 
"What's  the  trouble?  Why  don't  somebody 
get  on  the  roof  with  a  hose?" 

"Because  we  have  no  ladder  long  enough 
to  reach  there!"  the  fireman  answered.  "If 
only  somebody  could  climb  up  he  might " 

"Get  me  a  piece  of  clothesline,  and  I'll  climb 
up!"  cried  the  man,  taking  off  his  coat.  And 
as  Mrs.  Bunker  turned  to  look  more  closely  at 
him  she  gave  a  cry  of  surprise. 

"Oh,  Captain  Ben !"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Bunker. 


CHAPTER   III 


THE   INVITATION 


m 


cOh,  ho!  So  you  know  me  then,  do  you?" 
cried  the  man  who  had  so  suddenly  and  unex- 
pectedly appeared  and  offered  to  climb  to  the 
roof  of  the  house  where  the  chimney  was  on 
fire. 

"Yes,  I  know  you  by  your  picture,"  an- 
swered Mrs.  Bunker.  "But  I  never  expected 
to  see  you  so  soon.  Where  did  you  come 
from?" 

"No  time  to  talk  now — excuse  me — got  to 
hustle  as  I  did  in  the  army  in  France !"  was  the 
answer.  "I'll  tell  you  all  about  it  later.  Now, 
if  you'll  get  me  a  clothesline,  I'll  climb  to  the 
roof  and  put  out  the  chimney  fire!" 

"You  can't  put  out  a  fire  with  a  clothesline, 
can  you?"  asked  Violet.  "Don't  you  need  a 
hose?" 

"Yes,  little  girl.     I  don't  know  what  your 


THE  INVITATION  23 

name  is,  but  I'll  find  out  later,"  said  the  man 
who  had  been  called  "Captain  Ben"  by  Mrs. 
Bunker.  "What  I  want  the  clothesline  for  is 
to  carry  it  up  to  the  roof  with  me.  I  can't  take 
a  hose,  but  I  can  tie  the  rope  around  my  waist, 
climb  up,  and  then  the  fireman  can  tie  the  end 
of  the  hose  to  the  line.  Then  I  can  haul  up 
the  hose,  the  fireman  can  turn  on  the  water,  I'll 
squirt  the  water  down  the  blazing  chimney, 
and  the  fire  will  soon  be  out." 

"Oh!"  exclaimed  Vi.  She  very  seldom  had 
such  a  long  answer  given  to  any  of  the  ques- 
tions she  asked.    "Oh,"  she  said  again. 

"Where's  a  clothesline?"  cried  Captain  Ben. 

"I'll  get  you  one,"  offered  Norah,  and  she 
rushed  around  to  the  side  yard,  coming  back 
in  a  few  seconds  with  a  long,  trailing  length 
of  line  she  had  cut  from  the  posts.  Meanwhile 
more  and  more  black  smoke  was  coming  from 
the  chimney,  and  some  was  drifting  out  of  the 
attic  window  Russ  had  opened. 

"Good!  Thank  you!"  exclaimed  Captain 
Ben. 

"Do  you  think  the  house  is  catching  fire?" 
asked  Mrs.  Bunker  of  the  chief  of  the  depart- 
ment, who  came  up  on  the  porch  just  then. 


24      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Not  yet;  but  it  may  soon,"  he  answered. 
"What  are  we  going  to  do  ?"  he  went  on.  "We 
have  no  ladder  to  get  to  the  roof,  and " 

"This  gentlemen  is  going  to  climb  up  to  the 
roof  for  us,"  interrupted  the  fireman  who  had 
been  talking  to  Mrs.  Bunker.  He  pointed  to 
Captain  Ben,  who  was  making  some  loops  in 
the  clothesline  that  Norah  had  brought  him. 

"How's  he  going  to  get  to  the  top  of  the 
high  roof  of  this  house  when  we  can't  get  up 
ourselves  without  long  ladders  ?"  asked  the  fire 
chief.  "And  our  long  ladder  is  broken.  How 
are  you  going  to  get  up,  if  I  may  ask  ?"  he  in- 
quired of  Captain  Ben. 

"You  don't  need  to  ask  one  of  Uncle  Sam's 
soldier-sailors  a  question  like  that,"  was  the 
answer.  "I  was  one  of  the  marines  in  the  late 
war,  and  doing  hard  things  is  just  what  the 
marines  like.  I'll  show  you  how  I'm  going  to 
get  up  to  the  roof  without  a  ladder.  Be  ready 
to  bend  on  the  hose  when  I  give  the  word." 

"We'll  be  all  ready,"  the  fire  chief  promised. 
"I'm  ashamed  of  our  department  for  not  being 
able  to  put  out  a  simple  chimney  fire  before 
this,  but  I  didn't  know  our  long  ladder  was 
broken.    That  makes  all  the  trouble." 


THE  INVITATION  25 

"The  trouble  will  soon  be  over  when  I  get 
up  there!"  declared  the  young  soldier  with  a 
look  at  Russ,  Rose,  and  the  other  little  Bunk- 
ers. They  all  wondered  who  he  was  and  how 
it  was  their  mother  knew  him  from  having 
seen  his  picture.  Not  even  Russ.,  the  oldest, 
remembered  any  relative  named  Captain  Ben. 

"Now  we're  all  ready!"  exclaimed  the  for- 
mer marine,  as  he  had  called  himself.  "We'll 
have  this  fire  out  in  no  time !" 

He  seemed  to  know  just  what  to  do,  and 
even  the  fire  chief  was  waiting  for  Captain 
Ben.  With  the  clothesline  tied  around  his 
shoulders  in  a  knot  that  could  quickly  be  loosed, 
the  stranger  ran  to  a  large  copper  rain  pipe 
fastened  to  the  side  of  the  house.  Near  the 
rain  pipe,  or  leader,  as  it  is  called,  was1  also  a 
lightning  rod,  and  there  was  a  strong  ivy  vine 
growing  and  climbing  up  a  wire  trellis  which 
was  nailed  on  the  wall  of  the  house. 

"Up  I  go!"  cried  Captain  Ben,  and  in  an- 
other moment  he  was  going  up  the  side  of  the 
house,  climbing  hand  over  hand  by  means  of 
the  lightning  rod,  the  copper  leader,  and  the 
vine.  None  of  these,  alone,  would  have  been 
strong  enough  to  have  held  him,  but  by  using 


26      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

all  three  together  the  soldier-sailor  managed 
to  get  up  to  the  roof. 

The  roof  of  the  Bunker  house,  where  the 
blazing  chimney  came  through,  was  a  peaked 
one,  though  it  was  not  of  a  very  sleep  slant. 
Russ  wondered  how  Captain  Ben  was  going 
to  climb  this  peak,  which  was  like  a  hill,  only 
covered  with  shingles.  But  the  sailor  had  on 
low  shoes  with  rubber  soles,  and  these  did  not 
let  him  slip.  Stooping  down,  and  helping  him- 
self along  with  his  hands  when  he  reached  the 
roof,  Captain  Ben  made  his  way  close  to  the 
chimney. 

From  it  now  could  be  seen  coming  flames  and 
sparks  as  well  as  smoke,  and  it  began  to  look 
as  though  the  whole  house  might  soon  be 
ablaze. 

"Fasten  on  the  hose!"  suddenly  called  Cap- 
tain Ben. 

On  the  ground  below  firemen  made  fast  to 
the  lower  end  of  the  clothesline  the  length  of 
hose  from  which  the  water  had  been  turned 
off. 

"If  their  hose  isn't  enough  I'll  let  'em  have 
mine,"  said  Jerry  Simms,  who  now  had  the 
water  turned  full  on  in  the  garden  line.    And 


THE  INVITATION  27 

he  was  so  excited  that,  before  he  knew  it,  he 
had  sent  a  shower  of  spray  up  on  the  porch. 

"Mind  what  you're  doing,  Jerry!"  called 
Norah.    "Be  easy  now !" 

"Oh,  excuse  me!"  begged  the  old  soldier. 
"I'm  so  excited  I  don't  know  at  all  what  I'm 
doing!" 

He  turned  the  hose  aside,  but  this  time  he 
sprayed  the  fire  chief  and  one  of  his  men.  But 
as  they  had  on  rubber  coats  and  rubber  boots, 
as  well  as  thick  helmets,  they  did  not  mind  the 
water  in  the  least  and  only  laughed. 

By  this  time  other  firemen  had  fastened  an 
empty  line  of  hose  to  the  end  of  the  clothes- 
line. The  other  end  of  the  rope  was  held  by 
Captain  Ben  on  the  roof  of  the  Bunker  home, 
and  now  he  began  hauling  up. 

"I  have  it!"  he  cried  as  he  reached  the  noz- 
zle, and  took  off  the  clothesline.  "Wait  until 
I  get  close  to  the  chimney,  and  then  turn  on 
the  water." 

"All  right!"  the  chief  answered. 

Captain  Ben,  in  his  rubber-soled  shoes  that 
did  not  slip  on  the  shingle  roof,  crawled  over 
until  he  was  close  to  the  blazing  chimney.  It 
was  low  enough  for  him  to  point  the  hose  right 


28      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

down  in  it,  and  when  he  had  done  this  he 
shouted : 

"Turn  on  the  water!" 

"Turn  on  the  water !"  echoed  the  chief.  The 
hose,  that  was  almost  like  a  big  snake  trying 
to  climb  up  the  side  of  the  house  of  the  six 
little  Bunkers,  straightened  out  and  twisted 
as  the  water  filled  it,  being  pumped  in  by  one 
of  the  engines. 

Captain  Ben  directed  the  stream  down  the 
blazing  chimney.  There  were  puffs  of  steam, 
the  white  clouds  of  which  mingled  with  the 
black  smoke  of  the  chimney,  and  the  water 
poured  down  into  the  kitchen,  spurting  out  of 
the  range  where  the  fire  had  been  built.  The 
water  put  out  the  fire  in  the  stove,  as  well  as 
the  fire  in  the  chimney,  and  made  muddy  pud- 
dles on  Norah's  kitchen  floor.  But  this  could 
not  be  helped.  It  was  better  to  have  a  little 
water  in  the  house  than  a  lot  of  fire. 

"How  are  you  making  out?"  the  chief 
called  up  to  Captain  Ben  on  the  Koof. 

"Fine!"  was  the  answer.  "The  fire  is  al- 
most out!" 

And  it  was  all  out  a  minute  or  two  later. 
Then  the  water  was  shut  off,  so  that  the  house 


THE  INVITATION  29 

would  not  be  flooded,  and  Captain  Ben  dropped 
the  hose  from  the  roof  down  to  the  ground. 

"Is  he  going  to  jump  down,  Mother  ?"  asked 
Vi,  who,  with  the  others  of  the  family,  stood 
in  the  side  yard,  where  they  could  all  get  a 
view  of  the  roof  on  which  stood  Captain  Ben. 

"No,  indeed,  he  will  not  jump  down!"  said 
Mrs.  Bunker. 

"I  guess  he'll  climb  down  the  same  way  he 
went  up — like  a  monkey,"  said  Laddie.  "He's 
a  good  climber.  Some  day  I'm  going  to  climb 
up  to  the  roof  like  Captain  Ben  did.  But  who 
is  he,  Mother?  Is  he  what  Uncle  Fred  is  to 
us?" 

"Not  exactly,"  was  the  answer.  "I'll  tell 
you  about  Captain  Ben  a  little  later  when  there 
isn't  so  much  excitement.  He  is  coming  down 
now,  and  I  must  thank  him  for  what  he 
did." 

"I  want  to  thank  him,  too,"  said  the  fire 
chief.  "I'd  never  have  thought  of  getting  to 
the  roof  that  way.  But  it's  a  good  thing  he 
did,  or  that  chimney  might  be  burning  yet." 

Captain  Ben  made  his  way  down  the  vine, 
the  lightning  rod,  and  the  copper  pipe  as  he 
had  gone  up.    Several  in  the  crowd  gathered 


30      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

about  him,  and  many  told  him  he  had  done 
just  the  right  thing.  But  Captain  Ben  paid 
little  attention  to  these  strangers.  He  made 
his  way  to  where  Mrs.  Bunker  stood  with  the 
six  little  Bunkers  gathered  about  her. 

"I  didn't  expect  my  visit  would  have  so  much 
excitement  connected  with  it,"  he  said,  with  a 
smile,  as  he  put  on  his  coat.  "But  I  arrived 
just  about  the  same  time  as  did  the  engines.  I 
saw  what  the  trouble  was,  and  decided  that 
was  the  best  way  to  help." 

"I  am  glad  you  did,"  remarked  Mrs.  Bunker. 
"Though  I  have  not  seen  you  for  several  years, 
I  knew  you  at  once  by  your  picture,  which  I 
recently  saw  in  the  paper.  You  evidently  got 
safely  back  from  the  war." 

"Yes,  I  got  nothing  worse  than  a  few 
scratches.  But,  unless  I  am  much  mistaken, 
here  comes  Mr.  Bunker." 

"Oh,  here's  Daddy!"  cried  Rose,  as  a  very 
much  excited  man  rushed  up  the  front  walk, 
pushing  his  way  in  among  the  throng  that  had 
been  attracted  by  the  alarm  of  fire. 

"Are  you  all  right?  Is  anyone  hurt?  How 
did  it  happen?  Is  the  fire  out?"  asked  Daddy 
Bunker,  and,  really,  be  asked  almost  as  many 


THE  INVITATION  31 

questions  as  Violet  would  have  done  had  she 
had  the  chance. 

"Yes,  we  are  all  safe !"  answered  Mrs.  Bun- 
ker. "No  one  hurt  and  very  little  damage 
done.  But  I  have  a  surprise  for  you !  Look !" 
and  she  stepped  from  in  front  of  the  marine 
who  had  put  out  the  blazing  chimney. 

"Captain  Ben!"  cried  Daddy  Bunker. 
"Where  in  the  world  did  you  come  from  ?" 

"Just  back  from  the  war,"  was  the  answer, 
as  Captain  Ben  shook  hands  with  Daddy  Bun- 
ker. "I'm  going  to  take  a  long  rest,  and  I 
came  to  bring  an  invitation  to  you — to  you 
and  the  six  little  Bunkers,"  he  went  on,  looking 
from  one  of  the  children  to  the  other. 

"An  invitation!"  cried  Rose. 

"Yes,  and  I  do  hope  you  will  accept,"  said 
Captain  Ben.  "The  summer  is  not  quite  over," 
he  went  on  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bunker,  "and  I'm 
sure  these  youngsters  will  be  all  the  better  for 
some  more  vacation.  Let's  go  in,  away  from 
the  crowd,  and  I'll  explain  about  my  invita- 
tion." 

And  each  and  every  one  of  the  six  little 
Bunkers  wondered  what  was  going  to  happen. 


CHAPTER   IV 


ANOTHER   VACATION 


Captain  Ben,  as  both  Daddy  and  Mother 
Bunker  had  called  him,  caught  up  in  his  arms 
Mun  Bun  and  Margy.  He  was  so  big  and 
strong  that  the  children  seemed  feathers  to 
him,  and  he  easily  held  them  both  on  one  arm. 
Then  he  reached  down  his  other  hand  and  took 
the  two  hands  of  Laddie  and  Vi  in  his. 

"Now  come  on!"  cried  Captain  Ben,  laugh- 
ing. "I  have  four  of  the  half  dozen  little 
Bunkers,  and  the  other  two  can  hang  on  my  coat 
tails.  Let's  go  in  and  have  a  nice  talk  and 
visit." 

"Yes!  Yes!"  cried  Mun  Bun  and  Margy 
and  Laddie  and  Violet. 

"Where  are  we  going  and  what  are  you 
going  to  tell  us?"  asked  Vi,  not  forgetting, 
even  in  all  the  excitement  about  the  fire,  to 

32 


ANOTHER   VACATION  33 

ask  her  usual  questions.  "What  are  we  going 
to  do?" 

"Oh,  you'll  find  plenty  to  do — all  six  of  you 
— if  you  come  to  my  seashore  place !"  laughed 
Captain  Ben.  "That's  what  I  came  especially 
to  talk  about,"  he  went  on  to  Daddy  and 
Mother  Bunker.  "I  want  to  get  out  of  my 
mind  all  thoughts  of  the  great  war,  and  if  I 
can  have  this  happy  bunch  of  children  around 
me  it  will  be  the  best  thing  in  the  world.  You'll 
let  them  come,  and  you'll  come  with  them, 
won't  you?"  he  asked,  as  he  stood  on  the  door 
sill. 

"We  just  got  back  from  Uncle  Fred's !"  an- 
swered Mr.  Bunker.  "I  don't  see  how  we  can 
give  the  children  another  vacation  so  soon 
after  they  have  just  finished  one.  But  I  do 
want  to  have  you  pay  us  a  long  visit,  Captain 
Ben.  And  we'll  go  in,  as  you  say,  and  talk. 
But  I  must  first  make  sure  that  the  fire  is  out. 
Some  one  telephoned  to  me  at  the  office  that 
my  house  was  burning  up.  I  ran  out,  hailed 
the  first  man  I  saw  in  an  auto,  and  he  brought 
me  here  flying.  I  can't  tell  you  how  glad  I 
was  when  I  saw  the  house  still  standing." 

"It  isn't  really  harmed  at  all,"  said  Captain 


34      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

Ben.  "The  chimney  is  used  to  having  a  fire  in 
it,  and  all  that  happened  in  the  kitchen  is  that 
a  little  water  got  spilled.  Don't  worry  about 
the  fire  any  more.  Let's  go  in  and  talk.  I 
want  to  get  down  to  my  place  at  the  shore,  and 
take  3^ou  there  with  me." 

Indeed  there  was  no  more  danger  from  the 
fire.  The  crowd,  seeing  there  was  no  further 
excitement,  began  to  move  away.  The  fire- 
men coiled  up  their  hose,  and  the  engines  and 
carts  rumbled  away.  Norah  shook  her  head 
dubiously  as  she  saw  the  sloppy  kitchen  that 
she  always  kept  so  clean  and  bright,  but  Jerry 
Simms  consoled  her. 

"I'll  help  you  mop  it  up,  Norah !"  he  kindly 
offered.  "Water  is  easily  gotten  rid  of — much 
more  easily  than  fire.    I'll  help  you  clean  up." 

Norah  was  very  thankful  for  this,  and  soon 
she  and  Jerry  were  busy  setting  things  to 
rights  in  the  kitchen  while  Daddy  and  Mother 
Bunker,  with  the  children  and  Captain  Ben, 
went  into  the  sitting  room.  There  was  a  smell 
of  smoke  all  over,  but  no  one  minded  this. 
Norah  felt  very  bad,  thinking  that  she  might 
be  blamed  for  the  fire,  since  the  chimney  caught 
from  the  blaze  she  started  in  the  kitchen  range. 


ANOTHER   VACATION  35 

Mrs.  Bunker  realized  this,  and  so  she  said: 

"Don't  worry,  Norah.  It  would  have  hap- 
pened to  anyone.  If  I  had  started  the  fire  the 
chimney  would  have  caught  just  the  same  as 
it  did  when  you  started  it." 

"Well,  I'm  glad  to  hear  you  say  that,"  re- 
marked Norah,  as  she  and  Jerry  continued  the 
cleaning-up  work. 

The  excitement  caused  by  the  fire  was  over 
now,  and  a  little  later  the  Bunker  family,  in- 
cluding the  half  dozen  children  of  course,  and 
Captain  Ben  were  sitting  down  and  talking  like 
old  friends.  In  fact,  they  were  all  old  friends 
except  the  new  man  who  had  climbed  up  on  the 
roof  to  put  out  the  fire. 

"What  makes  you  call  him  Captain  Ben?" 
asked  Vi,  as  she  looked  up  at  the  stranger. 

"Because  he  is  Captain  Ben,"  answered  Mrs. 
Bunker.  "And  he  is  one  of  our  relations,  chil- 
dren!" 

"My,  what  a  lot  of  relations  we  have!"  ex- 
claimed Laddie.  And  when  they  all  laughed 
he  made  haste  to  add :  "But  I  like  'em  all  and 
I  like  you."  He  said  this  as  he  stood  near  the 
knees  of  Captain  Ben. 

"I'm  glad  you  do,"  said  the  sailor-soldier. 


36      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"And  I  hope  we  shall  all  become  better  ac- 
quainted and  have  good  times  together." 

"Will  you  tell  us  about  the  war?"  asked 
Rose.  "Jerry  Simms  tells  us  lots  of  funny 
stories  about  the  war  he  was  in." 

"This  was  a  different  war,"  said  Captain 
Ben,  "and  I  may  be  able  to  think  of  something 
funny  about  it.  I'll  try,  anyhow.  But  now 
let's  talk  about  going  away.  I  want  to  get  as 
far  from  the  war  as  I  can,  and  I  think  my  place 
at  the  seashore  will  take  my  mind  off  it — espe- 
cially if  I  can  have  you  children  with  me." 

"I'll  have  to  see  about  that,"  said  Daddy 
Bunker,  with  a  smile.  "But  at  least  we  can 
talk  about  it." 

So  they  talked,  and  Mother  Bunker  told  the 
children  that  Captain  Ben  was  a  distant  rela- 
tive of  hers,  whom  she  had  not  seen  for  a  long 
time.  But  his  picture  had  been  printed  in  the 
paper  as  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  war,  and 
though  Mrs.  Bunker  had  not  seen  him  for  some 
years,  she  knew  him  the  moment  he  rushed  up 
on  the  porch  to  help  in  putting  out  the  fire. 

"Is  Captain  Ben  like  Cousin  Fred?"  asked 
Russ,  when  the  matter  of  relationship  was  be- 
ing talked  about. 


ANOTHER   VACATION  37 

"He  is  a  sort  of  cousin,"  answered  Mother 
Bunker,  "but  I  think  it  will  be  better  if  we  all 
call  him  Captain  Ben." 

"I  am  most  used  to  hearing  that,"  said  the 
soldier.  "That  is  what  I  was  in  the  marine 
corps — a  captain.  And  though  I  am  dis- 
charged now,  many  of  my  friends  still  call  me 
captain." 

"I  like  a  captain,"  said  Rose.  "I  think  it's 
ever  so  much  nicer  than  a  general  or  a  major. 
They  always  sound  like  names  of  dogs;  but  a 
captain  is  nice." 

"I  am  glad  you  think  so!"  laughed  Captain 
Ben,  and  so  he  was  called  that  by  the  children. 

"But  what's  your  last  name?"  asked  Vi. 
You  might  have  known  she  would  find  some 
question  to  ask,  and  she  did. 

"My  last  name  is  Barsey,"  was  the  answer 
of  Captain  Ben.  "But  I  don't  imagine  you 
children  will  have  much  use  for  it.  Just  say 
Captain  Ben  and  I'll  know  who  you  mean." 

There  was  more  talk  and  laughter,  and  the 
six  little  Bunkers  began  to  feel  very  well  ac- 
quainted with  Captain  Ben.  At  dinner  he  told 
something  of  how  he  had  enlisted  and  fought 
in  the  war,  but  he  did  not  dwell  much  on  this, 


38      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

for  he  guessed,  rightly,  that  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bunker  did  not  want  to  have  the  children  think 
too  much  about  the  terrible  fighting  that  had 
taken  place  in  France. 

"And  so,  after  I  was  discharged  and  was 
free  to  leave  the  army,  I  decided  to  take  a  long 
rest,"  said  Captain  Ben.  "As  you  know, 
Cousin  Amy,"  he  said  to  Mrs.  Bunker,  "I  have 
a  very  nice  bungalow  down  on  the  Jersey  coast 
at  Grand  View.  It  is  all  ready  for  me  to  go 
down  there  and  spend  the  rest  of  the  summer, 
and  I  want  you  all  to  come  with  me." 

"Is  there  any  more  summer?"  asked  Laddie. 
"I  thought  we  spent  all  the  summer  at  Uncle 
Fred's." 

"There  is  still  some  summer  left,"  answered 
Captain  Ben. 

"That  sounds  funny!"  laughed  Laddie. 
"Some  summer!  Maybe  I  could  make  up  a 
riddle  about  it." 

"Do  you  like  riddles?"  asked  Captain  Ben. 

"Oh,  yes!"  exclaimed  Vi's  twin  brother. 
"Do  you  know  any?" 

"I  might  think  of  one,"  the  young  marine 
replied.  "Let  me  see.  Can  you  tell  me  when 
a  door  is  like  a  little  mouse?" 


ANOTHER    VACATION  39 

"A  door  like  a  little  mouse !"  exclaimed  Rose. 
"I  never  heard  of  such  a  thing.  A  door  can't 
be  like  a  mouse  because  it's  too  big — I  mean 
the  door  is." 

"Oh,  yes  it  can!"  said  Laddie,  quickly. 
"Things  in  riddles  can  be  like  anything  they 
want  to.  Don't  tell  me,  Captain  Ben!"  he 
begged.    "Let  me  see  if  I  can  guess  it  myself!" 

"It  isn't  very  hard,"  the  soldier-sailor  said. 
"I  just  happened  to  think  of  it,  and  perhaps 
you  won't  call  it  a  riddle  at  all.  But  when  is 
a  door  like  a  mouse?" 

"Is  it  when  it  sticks  fast  and  won't  open?" 
asked  Rose. 

"A  mouse  can't  open  and  shut!"  objected 
Russ. 

"It  can  open  and  shut  its  mouth,  and  a  door 
can  open  and  shut,"  said  Laddie,  who  seemed 
to  know  more  about  riddles  than  any  of  his 
brothers  or  sisters. 

"Is  that  the  answer?"  inquired  Russ,  while 
Mun  Bun  and  Margy  stood  silently  looking  at 
Captain  Ben. 

"No,  that  isn't  the  answer,"  replied  the  sol- 
dier from  France.  "I  guess  I'll  tell  you,  for 
you've  had  enough  excitement  to-day.    A  door 


40     SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

is  like  a  mouse  when  it  squeaks.  The  door's 
hinges  squeak,  you  know,  and  the  little  mouse 
squeaks  when  he  finds  a  piece  of  cheese." 

"That's  a  good  riddle!"  declared  Laddie. 
"I'm  going  to  remember  that,  and  ask  Jerry 
Simms  and  Norah." 

A  little  later  supper  was  served,  and  at  the 
table  Captain  Ben  told  more  about  his  bun- 
galow at  Grand  View. 

"You  have  been  to  the  seashore,"  he  said  to 
the  six  little  Bunkers,  "so  there  is  no  need  to 
tell  you  how  nice  the  ocean  and  the  beach  is  to 
rest  near.  But  Grand  View  is  especially  nice, 
because  my  bungalow  is  up  on  a  high  bluff 
and  you  can  look  away  off  across  the  water  to 
a  place  called  Sandy  Hook." 

"Do  they  catch  fishes  on  Sandy  Hook?" 
asked  Rose,  with  a  laugh. 

"No,  not  exactly,"  answered  Captain  Ben. 
"Sandy  Hook  is  a  place " 

"We  know,  thank  you,"  said  Russ.  "We 
passed  near  Sandy  Hook  when  we  went  to  At- 
lantic Highlands  on  our  way  to  Cousin  Tom's 
at  Seaview." 

"How  did  you  like  the  seashore?"  asked 
Captain  Ben. 


ANOTHER   VACATION  41 

"Oh,  we  love  it!"  cried  Rose,  and  all  the 
other  Bunkers  echoed  this.  "Of  course  it  was 
nice  at  Uncle  Fred's  ranch  out  West,"  Rose 
went  on.  "But  the  seashore  is  so  nice  and 
cool." 

"Then  I'll  take  you  all  there  for  another 
vacation !"  said  Captain  Ben.  "You  don't  need 
to  unpack  any  more  of  your  things,"  he  went 
on  to  Daddy  and  Mother  Bunker.  "Just  leave 
them  as  they  are,  load  them  in  my  auto,  and 
we'll  all  go  to  my  seaside  bungalow  at  Grand 
View." 

"Has  you  got  a  big  auto?"  asked  Mun  Bun, 
speaking  for  the  first  time  in  nearly  half  an 
hour. 

"Yes,  I  have  a  great  big  machine,"  said  Cap- 
tain Ben.  "I  left  it  at  a  garage  in  town  while 
I  looked  you  folks  up,  as  I  was  not  sure  where 
you  lived.  And  you  can  guess  how  surprised 
I  was  to  see  a  crowd  of  people  in  front  of  the 
house,  to  which  the  postman  directed  me,  and 
to  see  fire  and  smoke  coming  out  of  the  chim- 
ney." 

"We  were  surprised,  too,"  said  Russ,  as  he 
started  out  on  the  porch  to  bring  in  the  even- 
ing paper  the  boy  had  just  tossed  up.     "We 


43      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

were  playing  steamboat  in  the  attic,  and  a  lot 
of  smoke  came  out  and " 

"Don't  talk  any  more  about  it,"  begged 
Mother  Bunker.  "I  don't  want  it  to  get  on 
your  minds,  or  you  may  not  sleep.  I  shall 
never  forget  how  frightened  I  was." 

"All  the  more  reason  for  the  whole  family 
coming  and  spending  the  rest  of  the  season 
with  me,"  urged  Captain  Ben.  "It  is  still  late 
summer,  and  the  fall  is  really  the  best  part  of 
the  year  to  be  at  the  shore.  You'll  come, 
won't  you?"  he  asked  Mr.  Bunker. 

The  father  of  the  six  little  Bunkers  shook 
his  head. 

"It  is  too  near  school  time,"  he  said.  "The 
new  term  will  open  next  week.  That,  really,  is 
what  made  us  come  back  from  the  ranch.  I 
don't  want  the  children,  especially  the  two  older 
ones,  to  miss  any  of  their  classes.  No,  Cap- 
tain Ben,  I  am  sure  we're  all  much  obliged  to 
you  for  your  kind  invitation,  but  it  will  be  im- 
possible for  us  to  go  on  account  of  school." 

"Oh,  dear !"  sighed  Rose,  and  looks  of  disap- 
pointment came  over  the  faces  of  the  other 
children  when  they  heard  this. 

"Nonsense !"  exclaimed  Captain  Ben.    "Los- 


ANOTHER   VACATION  43 

ing  a  week  or  so  of  school  will  not  matter.  I 
have  just  set  my  heart  on  the  six  little  Bunkers 
coming  to  my  seashore  bungalow." 

Again  Daddy  Bunker  shook  his  head.  But, 
as  the  looks  of  sorrow  deepened  on  the  faces 
of  Rose  and  the  others,  Russ  came  running  in 
off  the  porch  with  the  evening  paper.  He  gen- 
erally opened  it  and  read  the  headings  before 
delivering  it  to  his  father  or  mother. 

"Oh,  look!  Look  at  this!"  cried  Russ  as, 
holding  the  opened  paper  out  in  front  of  him, 
he  hastened  in  where  the  others  were.  "I 
guess  we  can  go  to  Captain  Ben's  after  all! 
Look  what's  in  the  paper !" 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   MISSING  WATCH 

"What's  the  matter?  Oh,  let  me  see!" 
begged  Rose,  as  Russ  came  in  with  a  flutter- 
ing paper.  "Are  we  going  to  have  another 
school  play?" 

There  had  been  one  the  previous  winter,  and 
Rose  and  Russ  had  taken  part  in  it.  Their  pic- 
tures, as  well  as  those  of  other  young  per- 
formers, were  in  the  newspaper,  and  Russ  and 
Rose  were  quite  proud  of  this. 

"No,  it  isn't  another  school  play,"  Russ  an- 
swered. "But  there  was  an  accident  at  our 
school,  and  now  it  can't  open  when  it  was  going 
to.  Oh,  I'm  glad!  Now  we  don't  have  to  go 
back  to  school  and  we  can  go  to  Captain  Ben's 
bungalow  at  Grand  View !" 

"Let  me  see,"  requested  Mr.  Bunker,  reach- 
ing out  one  hand  for  the  paper,  while  with  the 

44 


THE  MISSING  WATCH  45 

other  he  sought  for  his  glasses  in  his  vest 
pocket. 

"Yes,  that's  right,"  he  said,  after  he  had 
read  the  item  on  the  front  page,  the  sight  of 
which  had  so  excited  Russ.  "There  has  been 
an  accident  at  Montgomery  school,  where  our 
children  go." 

"An  accident!"  exclaimed  Mother  Bunker. 
"Was  any  one  hurt?" 

"No,  it  wasn't  that  sort  of  accident,"  her 
husband  answered.  "It  was  just  a  break  in 
the  water  pipes  and  the  boiler  that  heats  the 
school  in  cold  weather.  Of  course  they  will 
not  need  heat  right  away,  but  the  boiler  will 
have  to  be  fixed,  and  it  will  take  over  a  month. 
This  article  in  the  paper  says  that  the  opening 
of  Montgomery  school  will  be  postponed  for  a 
month.  That  means  our  six  little  Bunkers  will 
not  have  to  go  back  to  their  classes  as  soon  as 
we  thought  they  would,"  he  added. 

"All  the  better  for  me !"  cried  Captain  Ben. 
"Now  I  can  take  you  all  to  Grand  View  in  my 
auto.  You  won't  have  any  objections  now,  will 
you?"  he  asked  Mr.  Bunker. 

"No,"  answered  the  father  of  Russ  and  the 
other  five  children,  "I  don't  see  how  I  can  ob- 


46      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S' 

ject.  As  I  told  you,  we  came  back  from  the 
West  mainly  on  account  of  school,  and  if  we 
had  known  in  time  that  the  Montgomery  build- 
ing was  not  to  open  we  would  have  stayed  at 
Uncle  Fred's  ranch." 

"I'm  glad  you  didn't,"  laughed  Captain  Ben. 
"For  now  I  can  have  you  visit  me.  I'll  go  right 
uptown  and  get  my  automobile,  as  I  see  you 
have  a  garage  here.  Then  we'll  all  be  ready 
to  start  for  the  seashore  in  the  morning." 

"Oh,  my  goodness!  we  can't  go  so  soon  as 
that"  cried  Mrs.  Bunker. 

"Why  not?"  asked  the  captain. 

"I  have  to  look  over  the  children's  clothes 
and  see  what  they  need  for  this  second,  unex- 
pected vacation.  We  couldn't  possibly  get 
ready  for  to-morrow." 

"Well,  the  next  day,  then,"  insisted  Captain 
Ben.  "I'll  go  and  get  my  auto  and  have  it  all 
ready." 

"No,  we  can't  go  the  next  day,  either,"  Mrs. 
Bunker  answered  with  a  laugh.  "Why  are 
you  in  such  a  hurry?" 

"I  learned  that  in  the  army,  I  guess,"  re- 
marked the  soldier.  "But  how  soon  can  you 
go?" 


THE  MISSING  WATCH  47 

"In  about  a  week,  I  think,"  was  the  answer, 
and  with  that  Captain  Ben  must  needs  be  con- 
tent. 

He  arose  to  go  after  his  automobile,  which 
he  had  left  in  a  public  garage  uptown,  and  Rose 
and  Russ  obtained  permission  to  go  with  him 
and  ride  back.  The  other  children  also  wanted 
to  go,  but  it  was  a  little  too  far  for  their  short 
legs. 

"Oh,  say,  this  is  a  dandy  big  car !"  exclaimed 
Russ,  as  he  and  his  sister  climbed  into  it  for 
the  ride  back  home. 

"Glad  you  like  it,"  said  Captain  Ben.  "We'll 
need  all  the  room  there  is  to  take  six  little 
Bunkers  and  all  their  baggage  to  the  shore  for 
a  second  vacation." 

The  next  few  days  were  busy  ones  in  the 
Bunker  home.  Every  one  was  so  occupied, 
helping  to  unpack,  pack  and  get  ready,  that 
Laddie  had  no  time  to  ask  Norah  or  Jerry 
Simms  about  the  riddle  of  the  mouse  and  the 
squeaking  door.  But  he  did  not  forget  it,  and 
he  thought  he  might  find  some  one  at  Captain 
Ben's  place  at  the  shore  whom  he  might  puzzle 
with  the  riddle. 

The  damage  done  by  the  chimney  fire  was 


48      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

soon  cleared  away  and  the  chimney  repaired, 
and  the  day  after  the  newspaper  contained  an 
account  of  the  happening.  It  interested  the  six 
little  Bunkers  almost  as  much  as  did  the  ac- 
count of  the  accident  to  the  Montgomery 
school. 

On  making  some  inquiries,  Mr.  Bunker 
found  that  what  the  paper  had  stated  about 
the  needed  repairs  at  the  school  was  true.  No 
classes  could  start  for  more  than  a  month  after 
the  date  set  for  the  regular  opening  of  the 
other  schools,  and  therefore  the  children  could 
remain  away  without  getting  any  black  marks. 
There  was  no  room  for  the  pupils  of  Mont- 
gomery school  in  any  of  the  other  schools  of 
Pineville. 

As  I  have  said,  these  were  busy  days  at  the 
Bunker  home  during  the  visit  of  Captain  Ben, 
for  he  stayed  at  the  Bunker  residence  until  it 
was  time  to  go  to  the  seashore.  Captain  Ben 
helped  pack,  too,  and  he  seemed  to  know  just 
how  to  do  it. 

"This  was  another  thing  I  learned  when  I 
was  a  marine,"  he  said,  as  he  showed  Mrs. 
Bunker  how  to  get  more  into  a  trunk  than  she 
had  ever  supposed  it  would  hold. 


THE  MISSING  WATCH  49 

Margy  and  Mun  Bun,  Laddie  and  Vi  and 
Rose  and  Russ  also  helped  pack,  though,  to  tell 
you  the  truth,  I  do  not  believe  that  the  four 
smallest  children  really  did  much  helping.  But 
they  thought  they  did,  and  this  gave  them  as 
much  joy  as  if  they  had  done  it  all  themselves. 

"Time  to  stop  and  eat!"  exclaimed  Captain 
Ben  one  noon,  when  several  valises  and  trunks 
had  been  filled  in  readiness  for  the  trip  next 
day.  "It's  twelve  o'clock,"  and  he  looked  at  a 
watch  he  wore  on  his  wrist. 

"Does  your  watch  keep  good  time?"  asked 
Violet. 

"Yes,  it  is  a  very  good  watch,"  was  the  an- 
swer. "It  was  given  to  me  by  a  French  soldier 
who  was  hurt  in  the  great  war.  I  think  a  great 
deal  of  this  watch,  and  I  would  not  want  to 
lose  it.  The  man  who  gave  it  to  me  was  in 
great  danger,  and  I  was  able  to  help  him  out 
of  it.  He  gave  me  this  wrist  watch  as  a  keep- 
sake.   I  prize  it  very  much." 

Though  Captain  Ben  did  not  say  so,  he  had 
really  saved  the  life  of  the  French  soldier,  ven- 
turing out  on  the  battlefield  and  bringing  in 
the  wounded  man. 

The  watch  was  an  expensive  gold  one,  set  in 


50      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

a  strong  leather  strap,  which  was  buckled 
about  Captain  Ben's  wrist.  Wearing  the 
watch  there  enabled  the  former  soldier  to  see 
what  time  it  was  without  stopping  to  fish  in  his 
pocket  for  his  time  piece. 

As  the  watch  had  indicated,  it  was  noon — 
twelve  o'clock — and  soon  the  six  little  Bunkers 
were  sitting  down  to  the  table.  They  talked 
over  their  plans  as  they  ate  the  meal. 

Large  as  was  Captain  Ben's  auto,  it  would 
hardly  hold  the  eight  Bunkers,  himself  and 
the  baggage  that  first  would  be  needed.  So  it 
was  decided  that  Mother  Bunker  would  go 
down  to  Grand  View  on  the  train,  taking  Mun 
Bun  and  Margy  with  her.  That  would  leave 
Daddy  Bunker,  Captain  Ben,  Russ,  Rose,  Lad- 
die and  Vi  to  come  in  the  soldier's  big  car. 
They  would  have  room  enough  then  for  several 
valises. 

The  rest  of  the  afternoon  and  part  of  the 
next  morning  was  spent  in  packing,  while  Mrs. 
Bunker  made  arrangements  for  again  shutting 
the  house  up,  after  having  opened  it  on  her 
return  from  the  West. 

"This  year  has  been  the  longest  vacation 
the  children  ever  had,"  she  remarked.    "Good- 


THE  MISSING  WATCH  51 

ness!  it  doesn't  seem  any  time  at  all  since  we 
started  for  Uncle  Fred's,  and  here  we  are 
starting  off  on  another  trip." 

"I  hope  you  will  like  my  place,"  said  Cap- 
tain Ben,  as  he  finished  strapping  a  large 
valise.  "I  wish  we  might  have  started  a  little 
earlier  to-day,  but  I  think  we  shall  get  there 
before  dark." 

"I  think  I  shall  be  there  ahead  of  you,  going 
as  I  am  in  the  train  with  Margy  and  Mun 
Bun,"  said  Mrs.  Bunker. 

"I  am  not  so  sure  about  that !"  laughed  Cap- 
tain Ben.  "My  auto  can  travel  very  fast  when 
I  get  started.  But  what  time  does  your  train 
go? 

"At  ten  o'clock,"  answered  the  children's 
mother.     "How  much  time  have  I?" 

Captain  Ben  thrust  out  his  arm  as  he  al- 
ways did  when  he  wanted  to  look  at  his  wrist 
watch,  and,  as  he  glanced  down,  an  appearance 
of  surprise  came  over  his  face. 

"Why,  my  watch  is  gone!"  he  exclaimed. 

"Gone?"  echoed  Mrs.  Bunker.  "Did  you 
take  it  off  and  put  it  down  somewhere?" 

"No,  I  haven't  had  it  off  to-day,"  was  the 
answer.     "I  had  it  on  just  before  I  strapped 


53     SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

that  valise!  It  must  have  accidentally  come 
off!  I  must  find  it!  I  wouldn't  have  that 
watch  lost  for  anything!" 

He  began  looking  about  the  room. 

"I'll  call  the  children,"  offered  Mrs.  Bunker. 
"One  of  them  may  have  seen  it.  Oh,  Russ! 
Rose!"  she  called.  "Come,  children,  and  see 
if  you  can  find  Captain  Ben's  missing  watch." 


MRS.  BUNKER  AND  THE  TWO  SMALLER  CHILDREN  STARTED  FOR 
THE  RAILROAD  STATION. 

Six  Little  Bunkers  at  Captain  Ben's  *age  55 


CHAPTER   VI 

OFF   TO   GRAND   VIEW 

The  six  little  Bunkers,  who  had  been  scurry- 
ing around  all  over  the  house,  helping,  or  at 
least  thinking  they  were  helping,  to  get  ready 
for  the  trip,  gathered  in  the  big  living  room  at 
the  sound  of  their  mother's  voice. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Vi,  beginning 
her  usual  questioning.  "Is  the  chimney  on  fire 
again?" 

"No,"  answered  her  mother.  "But  Captain 
Ben  has  lost  his  watch — the  one  the  French  sol- 
dier gave  him.  He  thinks  it  became  loose  when 
he  was  helping  pack  the  valises  and  trunks; 
so  look  around,  children." 

So  the  search  began,  but  it  was  without  re- 
sult. Everything  on  the  floor  was  lifted  up, 
trunks  and  valises  were  moved  aside,  and  even 
Norah  and  Jerry  came  in  to  help  look.    How- 

53 


54      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

ever,  the  watch  could  not  be  found,  though  the 
six  little  Bunkers  aided  all  they  could. 

"Can't  we  go  to  Captain  Ben's  if  he  doesn't 
find  his  watch?"  asked  Vi. 

"Oh,  yes,  that  won't  keep  us  from  the  trip," 
said  the  sailor-soldier.  The  marines  are  both 
soldiers  and  sailors,  so  either  name  fitted  them. 
"But  I  would  like  to  find  my  watch,"  Captain 
Ben  added. 

"Oh,  I  guess  I  got  it — I  mean  I  guess  I 
stepped  on  it !"  suddenly  exclaimed  Laddie,  as 
he  trod  on  something  that  was  under  a  piece 
of  paper. 

There  was  an  anxious  moment,  but  when  the 
paper  was  lifted  up  all  that  was  under  it  was 
a  tin  whistle  that  Mun  Bun  had  been  playing 
with. 

"Oh,  dear!"  said  Laddie.  "I  thought  sure 
I  had  it!" 

The  watch  remained  unfound,  but  the  pack- 
ing went  on.  Soon  it  was  time  for  Mrs.  Bun- 
ker to  start  for  the  train  with  Margy  and  Mun 
Bun.  They  were  to  go  on  ahead,  as  the  way 
to  Grand  View  by  the  train  was  longer  than 
by  the  automobile  road. 

Captain  Ben  was  to  take  Mrs.  Bunker  and 


OFF  TO  GRAND   VIEW  55 

the  two  smaller  children  to  the  railroad  station 
in  his  car,  leaving  Mr.  Bunker  to  attend  to  the 
last  details  of  the  packing  with  Russ  and  Rose, 
Violet  and  Laddie.  Of  course,  Jerry  Simms 
and  Norah  also  helped. 

"Good-bye,  children!  I'll  see  you  at  Grand 
View!"  called  Mother  Bunker,  waving  her 
hand  to  her  four  children  as  she  sat  beside 
Mun  Bun  and  Margy  in  the  automobile. 

"Good-bye!"  echoed  Russ  and  the  others. 
And  the  two  smaller  Bunkers  waved  their 
hands.  They  were  delighted  at  the  idea  of  a 
ride  in  the  steam  cars. 

In  a  little  while  Captain  Ben  came  back 
from  the  station  with  his  empty  automobile. 
As  he  alighted  to  go  into  the  house,  to  see  that 
the  others  were  ready  for  the  trip,  he  thrust 
out  his  left  arm  and  looked  down  at  his 
wrist. 

"Oh,  I  forgot  my  watch  was  lost,"  he  said 
with  a  grim  laugh.  "I  have  been  so  used  to 
looking  at  the  time  that  it  comes  natural  to 
stick  out  my  hand  where  I  can  get  a  good  view 
of  my  wrist.  Well,  if  my  watch  is  gone — it's 
gone — that's  all  there  is  to  it." 

"Maybe  Norah  will  find  it  after  we  have 


56      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

left,"  suggested  Rose.  "Lots  of  times  she 
finds  things  we  lose." 

"I  hope  she  does,"  echoed  Captain  Ben. 
"Well,  never  mind  the  watch  now.  Let's  get 
ready  to  start.  We  must  be  off.  It  is  getting 
late!" 

The  last  valise  was  strapped  shut,  the  ex- 
pressman had  taken  the  trunks  that  did  not 
go  as  baggage,  and  now  the  four  little  Bunkers 
with  their  father  and  Captain  Ben,  went  out 
on  the  porch,  after  saying  good-bye  to  Norah 
and  Jerry  Simms. 

Into  the  captain's  big  car  piled  the  four  chil- 
dren. 

"It  seems  funny  not  to  have  mother  and 
Margy  and  Mun  Bun  with  us,  doesn't  it?" 
asked  Rose,  as  she  took  her  place  with  Russ, 
Vi  and  Laddie,  her  father  and  Captain  Ben 
being  in  the  front  seat. 

"Yes,  it  does,"  agreed  Russ.  "But  we'll  be 
with  them  to-night  again,  won't  we,  Captain 
Ben?"  he  asked. 

"Oh,  yes,  we'll  all  be  at  my  bungalow  at 
Grand  View  this  evening,"  said  the  sailor-sol- 
dier. "Your  mother  may  get  there  first,  but 
I  have  told  her  where  to  find  the  keys,  so  she 


OFF  TO  GRAND   VIEW  57 

can  get  everything  all  ready  if  she  gets  there 
ahead  of  us." 

"Well,  I  think  we're  all  ready  to  start,"  said 
Daddy  Bunker  at  length.  "Everything  is  all 
right,  isn't  it,  Norah?" 

"Oh,  yes,"  answered  the  cook.  "But  it's 
sorry  I  am  to  see  you  go  away  again  so  soon 
after  coming  home.  You're  taking  two  vaca- 
tions the  same  summer,  children." 

"Yes,  and  it's  lots  of  fun !"  cried  Russ.  "I'm 
glad  the  boiler  in  the  school  got  leaky.  I 
didn't  want  to  go  back  so  soon,  anyhow." 

Final  good-byes  were  said,  and  then  Cap- 
tain Ben  started  his  automobile  down  the 
street,  the  four  children  looking  back  as  long 
as  they  could  see  Norah  and  Jerry  Simms  and 
waving  farewells  to  them. 

Out  through  the  streets  of  Pineville  they 
rode,  Rose  and  Russ  calling  to  various  children 
of  their  acquaintance  whom  they  met. 

"Did  you  ride  in  this  kind  of  an  auto  in 
France?"  asked  Russ  of  Captain  Ben. 

"Not  very  often,"  was  the  answer.  "I  had 
to  walk  most  of  the  time,  and  I  was  glad  I 
could.  Lots  of  poor  fellows  were  so  crippled 
they  couldn't  walk." 


58      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Do  you  know  any  French  riddles  ?"  Laddie 
wanted  to  know,  as  they  turned  out  on  a  coun- 
try road. 

"French  riddles?"  repeated  Captain  Ben. 
"Do  you  mean  you  want  me  to  tell  you  a  riddle 
in  the  French  language?" 

Laddie  shook  his  curly  head. 

"I  don't  know  how  to  speak  French,"  he 
said.  "What  I  want  is  a  French  riddle  that 
will  be  different  from  any  riddle  I  know  in 
English." 

"I'm  sorry,  but  I  can't  think  of  any,"  replied 
Captain  Ben  Barsey. 

"Could  you  tell  us  a  funny  story  about  the 
war?"  asked  Russ. 

Captain  Ben  thought  for  a  moment. 

"There  wasn't  very  much  chance  to  have 
fun  when  the  fighting  was  going  on,"  he  an- 
swered, "but  of  course  I  didn't  have  to  fight 
all  the  while.  I  remember  once,  being  in  a 
trench — that's  like  the  big  ditch  over  there," 
and  he  pointed  to  one  at  the  side  of  the  road 
along  which  the  automobile  was  traveling  at 
the  time. 

"Did  you  sleep  in  the  ditch?"  asked  Vi. 

"Yes,"  answered  Captain  Ben,  "at  times  we 


OFF  TO  GRAND  VIEW  59 

slept  in  the  trench  ditch,  and  very  often  we  ate 
in  them.  I  was  going  to  tell  you  about  a  funny 
thing  that  happened  to  me  when  I  was  getting 
ready  to  eat  my  dinner  in  a  trench  one  day. 

"We  had  been  fighting  all  morning,  but  had 
stopped  about  noon,  and  then  they  brought  us 
soldiers  in  the  trench  something  to  eat.  I  was 
very  hungry  and  so  were  my  friends.  I  got 
a  piece  of  bread  and  some  meat  and  made  my- 
self a  sandwich.    I  also  had  a  tincup  of  coffee. 

"I  laid  the  sandwich  down  on  a  stone  for  a 
moment  to  take  a  drink  of  coffee,  and  when 
next  I  reached  out  my  hand  for  the  bread  and 
meat  I  felt  it  jump  away." 

"Oh,  was  it  alive?"  asked  Russ. 

"Well,  I  thought  so,  for  a  moment,"  an- 
swered the  captain.  "But  when  I  looked,  after 
getting  over  my  first  surprise,  I  saw  that  I  had 
put  my  hand  on  a  big,  gray  rat.  He  had  come 
out  of  his  hole  in  the  trench  and  was  eating  my 
bread  and  meat.  Of  course  he  moved  when  I 
touched  him." 

"I'm  glad  I  wasn't  there,"  said  Rose.  "I 
don't  like  rats !" 

"I  wish  I  could  just  look  at  him — but  that's 
all,"  said  Russ. 


60     SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Did  you  make  him  give  you  back  your  sand- 
wich ?"  questioned  Vi. 

"Hardly!"  laughed  Captain  Ben.  "I  didn't 
want  it  after  the  rat  had  nibbled  it.  So  I 
shooed  him  away,  and  managed  to  get  some 
more  bread  and  meat.  But  I'll  never  forget 
how  funny  it  seemed  when  I  thought  I  felt 
my  sandwich  moving  under  my  hand." 

The  children  laughed  at  this  story  of  the 
funny  side  of  war,  and  by  this  time  the  auto- 
mobile was  well  away  from  Pineville  and  on 
the  way  to  Grand  View. 

"I  think  this  is  the  nicest  summer  I  ever 
knew,"  said  Rose  to  Russ.  "We  are  having 
two  vacations." 

"It  is  lots  of  fun,"  he  agreed. 

Laddie  was  saying  little.  He  seemed  very 
sober. 

"What's  the  matter?"  Rose  asked  him. 

"I  know  a  good  riddle  about  an  automobile, 
but  I  can't  just  think  of  it,"  said  the  little  boy. 
"I  want  to  ask  Captain  Ben  a  riddle,  but  I  can't 
think  of  the  right  one." 

"Don't  worry!"  laughed  the  sailor-soldier. 
"I'll  be  with  you  the  rest  of  the  summer,  and 
you  can  ask  me  all  the  riddles  you  think  of." 


OFF  TO  GRAND   VIEW  61 

"Oh,  I  can  think  of  a  lot !"  declared  Laddie. 
"But  I  have  an  extra  good  one  about  an  auto, 
only  I  don't  know  what  it  is." 

As  the  automobile  was  passing  through  a 
little  country  village,  Vi  saw  a  candy  store, 
where,  also,  soda  water  was  sold. 

"Can't  we  stop  here  and  get  a  drink?"  she 
asked.    "I'm  thirsty !" 

"Yes,  we  can  stop,"  her  father  said,  and  he 
was  just  asking  Captain  Ben  to  slow  up  at  the 
store  when  a  woman  ran  from  it  in  great  ex- 
citement, waving  her  hands  and  calling  aloud : 

"Stop!  Stop!  Oh,  wait  a  minute!  Some- 
thing terrible  has  happened!  Oh,  come  in! 
Come  in !" 

And  from  the  store,  out  of  which  the  woman 
had  rushed,  came  a  loud  hissing  sound,  while 
what  seemed  to  be  a  lot  of  steam,  or  a  spray 
of  water,  floated  from  the  door  behind  her. 


CHAPTER   VII 


THE   STORM 


Captain  Ben  and  Daddy  Bunker,  on  the 
front  seat  of  the  automobile,  looked  in  aston- 
ishment at  the  excited  woman  and  at  the  white 
spray  coming  from  her  little  store. 

Russ  and  Rose  and  Laddie  and  Violet,  four 
of  the  six  little  Bunkers  in  the  rear  of  the  car, 
were  also  much  surprised,  wondering  what  had 
happened. 

"It  must  be  a  fire !"  exclaimed  Russ,  remem- 
bering what  had  happened  that  day  he  and  the 
others  were  playing*  steamboat  in  the  attic, 
when  the  chimney  began  to  smoke  in  the  wrong 
way. 

"What  makes  the  fire?"  questioned  Vi.  It 
was  just  like  her  to  ask  a  question  at  this 
critical  time. 

As  for  Laddie,  he  said  nothing.  But  his 
eyes  opened  big  and  round,  and  perhaps  he  was 

62 


THE  STORM  63 

trying  to  think  up  a  riddle  about  the  woman 
who  had  rushed  from  the  store  with  a  cloud 
of  steam  behind  her. 

And  this  woman — the  one  who  owned  the 
candy  store — was  still  waving  her  hands  and 
crying  excitedly  to  Captain  Ben  and  Daddy 
Bunker. 

"Oh  come  in !  Please  come  in  and  see  what 
the  matter  is !"  she  begged. 

By  this  time  Captain  Ben  had  stopped  the 
automobile,  and  he  was  getting  out,  followed 
by  Mr.  Bunker.  The  latter  turned  to  Russ, 
Rose,  Vi  and  Laddie  and  said : 

"Now  you  little  Bunkers  stay  right  in  the 
car  until  we  see  what  the  matter  is." 

"Can't  I  come  and  see,  too?"  Vi  asked. 

"No,  indeed!  There  may  be  danger!"  her 
father  said. 

Several  persons  from  the  village  streets 
were  now  running  toward  the  little  candy  and 
soda  water  store,  and  one  boy  began  to 
shout : 

"Fire!    Fire!    Fire!" 

Quickly  the  woman  turned  to  him. 

"Don't  say  that,  Johnnie  Mack!"  she  ex- 
claimed.    "It  isn't  a  fire  at  all,  and  I  don't 


64      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

want  a  lot  of  engines  and  hose  cai  ts  coming 
and  mussing  my  place  up !" 

"If  it  isn't  a  fire,  then  what  is  it?"  asked 
Captain  Ben.  "Though  it  does  look  more  like 
steam  than  smoke,"  he  added,  as  he  glanced 
at  the  white  cloud  still  coming  from  the  door- 
way of  the  store. 

"What  is  it?  What's  the  matter?  What 
happened?"  were  some  of  the  questions  asked 
of  the  woman. 

"I  don't  know  what  it  is!  I  can't  exactly 
tell,  but  it's  something  dreadful !"  she  said  to 
Captain  Ben,  who,  with  Daddy  Bunker,  was 
about  to  enter  the  place.  "All  I  know  is  that 
I  was  drawing  a  glass  of  soda  water  for  a  little 
girl  when,  all  of  a  sudden,  there  was  a  big 
noise  down  in  the  cellar  and  then  a  lot  of  steam 
shot  up  into  my  store.  I  ran  out,  and  the  little 
girl  ran  out,  and  that's  all  I  know  about  it." 

"I  think  I  know  what  it  is,"  said  Captain 
Ben.  "There  isn't  any  fire  and  there's  nothing 
serious.  One  of  the  soda  water  tanks  in  the 
cellar  has  sprung  a  leak  and  the  water  is  shoot- 
ing out  in  a  fine  spray.  It  is  just  as  if  you  left 
one  of  the  faucets  of  your  soda  fountain  open," 
he  went  on. 


THE   STORM  65 

"Dear  me !  All  my  nice  soda  water  running 
to  waste!"  exclaimed  the  woman.  "But  I'm 
glad  it  isn't  a  fire." 

"Won't  there  be  any  soda  water  left  for  us 
to  drink?"  asked  Vi. 

"There  won't  unless  I  shut  it  off  pretty 
soon!"  said  Captain  Ben.  "How  do  you  get 
down  into  your  cellar?"  he  asked  the  candy 
store  woman.  "I'm  afraid  I  can't  see  my  way 
to  go  in  through  the  front  door,"  he  added,  as 
he  looked  at  the  cloud  of  fizzy  spray  which 
almost  hid  the  little  store  from  sight. 

"You  can  get  down  the  outside  cellar  stairs," 
she  answered.     "I'll  show  you." 

While  the  crowd  and  the  four  little  Bunkers 
looked  on,  Captain  Ben  went  down  the  outside 
stairs  to  the  cellar  in  which  stood  the  tanks  of 
soda  water.  The  tanks  were  filled  with  a  gas 
which  makes  the  bubbles  in  soda  water. 

The  soldier-sailor  knew  just  what  to  do, 
and  in  a  little  while  the  hissing  sound  stopped, 
the  clouds  of  watery  spray  blew  away,  and  it 
was  possible  to  enter  the  store. 

Not  much  damage  had  been  done,  for,  after 
all,  it  was  only  a  fine  spray  of  water  that  had 
floated  about,  and  it  was  such  a  fine  spray  that 


66      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

it  was  almost  like  steam.  The  crowd  swarmed 
about,  looked  in,  and,  seeing  nothing  to  wonder 
at,  passed  on. 

"I'm  ever  so  much  obliged  to  you,  sir,"  said 
the  candy  store  woman  to  Captain  Ben.  "For 
a  time  I  thought  my  place  was  going  to  be 
blown  up.  I'm  glad  it  wasn't,  for  I  have  to 
make  my  living  by  my  little  store." 

"Have  you  any  soda  water  left?"  inquired 
Vi,  who,  with  the  other  little  Bunkers,  had 
got  out  of  the  automobile  when  the  crowd 
melted  away. 

"Yes,  I  have  some  in  bottles.  I  don't  sup- 
pose I  could  draw  any  from  the  fountain,  could 
I  ?"  she  asked  Captain  Ben. 

"Not  very  well  until  the  broken  pipe  is 
mended,"  he  answered. 

"Bottled  soda  is  all  right,"  declared  Russ. 
"We  can  drink  it  from  straws  if  you  have 
any,"  he  added. 

"Yes,  I  have  some,"  the  store  woman  said, 
and  soon  the  four  little  Bunkers  were  sitting 
on  stools  in  front  of  the  counter,  sucking  soda 
water  through  straws  out  of  bottles.  Captain 
Ben  insisted  on  using  a  straw  also,  but  Daddy 
Bunker  drank  his  from  a  glass. 


THE  STORM  67 

"My,  that  tastes  good!"  said  Captain  Ben, 
as  he  drained  the  last  of  his  sweet  drink. 
"Many  a  time,  in  the  army  in  France,  I'd  have 
walked  ten  miles  to  get  a  cool  drink  like  that." 

"The  soda  from  the  fountain  is  better,"  the 
woman  said.  "But  I  guess  I  won't  have  any 
of  that  to-day.  I'll  telephone  for  some  one  to 
come  and  mend  the  broken  pipe." 

"Can't  I  go  down  and  see  where  it  broke?" 
asked  Laddie,  when  it  was  time  for  the  little 
Bunkers  to  travel  again.     "I  want  to  see  it." 

"There  wouldn't  be  much  to  look  at,"  Cap- 
tain Ben  told  him.  "It  would  only  be  a  hole 
in  a  pipe,  just  as  there  might  be  a  hole  in  the 
water  pipe  at  home  if  it  burst." 

"Our  water  pipe  did  burst  once,"  said  Vi, 
"and  I  got  awful  nice  and  wet,  and  it  was  a 
hot  day,  too." 

"That  was  lucky!"  laughed  Captain  Ben. 

"If  I  could  see  this  broken  pipe  maybe  I  could 
make  up  a  riddle  about  it,"  went  on  Laddie. 
"I  didn't  make  up  a  riddle  in  a  long,  long  time. 
And  if  I  don't  make  up  one  pretty  soon  I'll  have 
to  ask  the  old  ones  over  again." 

"I'll  tell  you  some  new  riddles  when  I  get 
a  chance,"  promised  Captain  Ben.    "It's  dark 


68      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

down  in  the  cellar,  and  you  couldn't  see  any- 
thing much  anyhow.  Besides,  we  don't  want 
to  be  late  getting  to  Grand  View,  or  your 
mother,  with  Margy  and  Mun  Bun,  will  be 
there  ahead  of  us.  I'm  not  so  sure,  after  all, 
but  what  they'll  be  there  first  anyhow,"  he  said 
to  Daddy  Bunker.    "It  is  later  than  I  thought." 

"Then  we  must  hurry,"  said  the  children's 
father.  "I  wouldn't  like  Amy  and  the  two  chil- 
dren to  be  there  alone  after  dark." 

"They'll  be  safe  enough,"  declared  Captain 
Ben.  "The  key  to  my  bungalow  is  at  the  house 
next  door,  and  Cousin  Amy  can  go  in  and  make 
herself  and  Mun  Bun  and  Margy  perfectly  at 
home  in  case  they  get  there  first.  But  we'll 
try  to  arrive  ahead  of  them.  I'll  make  the 
auto  go  a  little  faster." 

"Doesn't  it  seem  funny  not  io  have  Mun  Bun 
and  Margy  with  us  on  this  trip?"  asked  Rose, 
as  they  all  prepared  to  get  into  the  automobile 
again. 

"Indeed  it  does,"  said  her  father.  "But  you 
six  little  Bunkers  will  soon  all  be  together 
again." 

"Pile  in !"  called  Captain  Ben,  and  he  helped 
Vi  up  into  the  seat  to  which  Russ  had  already 


THE  STORM  69 

assisted  Rose.  Laddie  was  just  going  to  enter 
the  car  when  he  suddenly  turned  back  and  hur- 
ried toward  the  store. 

"What's  the  matter  now?"  his  father  called 
after  him.  "Are  you  still  going  to  look  for 
the  hole  in  the  pipe  where  the  soda  water  came 
out?" 

"Maybe  he  left  one  of  his  riddles  in  there," 
suggested  Captain  Ben,  with  a  laugh. 

A  moment  later  they  saw  what  it  was  Laddie 
had  gone  back  after — it  was  a  little  bag  of 
cookies  he  had  asked  Rose  to  buy  for  him.  He 
had  laid  them  on  the  counter  when  he  was 
drinking  his  soda  water  through  a  straw  stuck 
in  the  bottle,  and  he  did  not  intend  to  leave  his 
lunch  behind. 

"Give  me  some!"  begged  Violet,  when  she 
saw  what  her  brother  had  in  his  hand. 

"I'll  give  us  all  some,"  he  promised  gen- 
erously. 

"All  aboard,  then!"  called  Captain  Ben,  and 
once  more  they  were  on  their  way  toward 
Grand  View.  They  stopped  for  lunch  at  a 
hotel  in  a  small  town,  and  the  children  were 
delighted  at  this.  They  always  liked  a  change, 
no  matter  what  it  was. 


70      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"And  we  never  had  a  summer  like  this,"  said 
Rose.  "Two  different  vacation  trips — one  to 
Uncle  Fred's  and  the  other  to  Captain  Ben's." 

"We  aren't  at  Captain  Ben's  yet,"  said  Rose, 
as  they  started  off  again  after  their  lunch. 

"But  we  shall  be  pretty  soon,  sha'n't  we, 
Daddy?"  asked  Rose. 

"I  don't  know  just  how  much  farther  it  is," 
was  the  answer.  "What  do  you  say?"  he 
asked,  turning  to  the  soldier-sailor. 

The  latter  did  not  reply  for  a  moment,  and 
then  he  looked  up  at  the  sky,  studied  the  clouds 
for  a  moment  before  he  said : 

"I  don't  want  to  look  on  the  dark  side,  but 
I'm  very  much  afraid  we  are  going  to  be  later 
getting. to  Grand  View  than  I  thought." 

"Why?"  asked  Daddy  Bunker. 

"Because  I  think  we  are  going  to  run  into 
a  storm,  and  that  will  delay  us,"  said  Captain 
Ben.  "The  roads  are  none  too  good,  and  with 
a  heavy  rain,  such  as  it  seems  likely  we'll  have, 
we  can't  make  very  fast  time." 

"I  just  love  to  be  in  a  rain  in  an  auto  when 
the  side  curtains  are  up,  don't  you?"  asked 
Rose  of  Russ. 

"I  do  if  they  don't  leak,"  he  answered. 


THE  STORM  71 

"It's  just  like  playing  house  in  our  attic," 
said  Vi.  "When  do  you  think  it  will  rain,  Cap- 
tain Ben?"  she  went  on. 

"Very  soon,  I'm  sorry  to  say,"  he  replied. 

The  sun  went  behind  the  clouds,  and  the 
afternoon  changed  from  a  bright,  smiling  one 
to  a  dark,  frowning  one.  Then  the  wind  began 
to  blow,  and  in  the  west,  behind  some  dark 
clouds,  flashes  of  lightning  could  be  seen. 

Captain  Ben  made  the  automobile  go  as  fast 
as  was  safe,  hoping  they  might  reach  some 
place  of  shelter  before  the  storm  broke.  It  was 
not  possible  to  get  to  his  bungalow,  as  they 
were  too  far  away. 

Suddenly  the  machine  began  to  slow  up,  just 
after  a  loud  clap  of  thunder  which  followed  a 
bright  flash  of  lightning. 

"What's  the  matter  ?"  exclaimed  Rose.  "Did 
it  strike  us  ?" 

"Pooh!  Of  course  not!"  exclaimed  Russ. 
"If  we'd  been  hit  you'd  know  it!" 

"No,  there  is  no  danger  yet,"  answered  Cap- 
tain Ben.  "But  I  think  we'd  better  stop  and 
put  up  the  side  curtains  before  it  rains,  as  it 
is  going  to  soon,  and  rain  hard,"  he  said  to 
Daddy  Bunker. 


72      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

The  automobile  was  run  beneath  a  tree  at 
the  edge  of  the  road,  and  the  two  men  began 
fastening  up  the  side  curtains.  Hardly  had 
they  finished  and  climbed  back  into  the  ma- 
chine, than  there  was  a  louder  howl  to  the  wind, 
the  thunder  rolled  and  crashed  overhead,  the 
lightning  blazed  in  the  black  sky,  and  then  the 
rain  came  down  with  pelting  force,  pattering 
on  the  top  and  sides  of  the  automobile  as  it 
did  on  the  shingle  roof  at  the  home  of  the  six 
little  Bunkers. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

A   QUEER    NIGHT 

"Isn't  this  fun !"  shouted  Rose,  leaning  back 
in  the  seat  and  putting  her  arm  around  Violet. 
"It's  just  like  camping  out." 

"It's  better'n  camping  out,"  declared  Russ, 
who  sat  next  to  Laddie.  The  two  smaller  chil- 
dren were  on  the  back  seat  of  the  automobile 
between  Russ  and  his  sister. 

"What  makes  this  better'n  camping  out?" 
Violet  wanted  to  know.  "Is  it  'cause  it  rains 
harder?" 

"No,"  Russ  answered,  "it's  because  we're 
under  better  shelter  than  we  would  be  in  a 
tent,  camping  out  in  the  rain.  No  water  can 
get  through  this  auto  top." 

"Yes  it  can,  too !"  cried  Laddie.  "I  just  felt 
a  drop  on  my  nose." 

"Oh,  that  just  leaked  in  around  the  side  cur- 

73 


74      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

tains,"  declared  Russ,  with  a  laugh.  "We'll 
not  get  wet;  shall  we,  Captain  Ben?" 

"I  hope  not,"  was  the  marine's  answer,  as 
he  got  ready  to  drive  the  car  through  the  storm. 
He  and  Daddy  Bunker  were  on  the  front  seat, 
with  the  glass  wind  shield  in  front  of  them, 
and  curtains  at  the  sides,  as  there  were  at  the 
back  and  at  the  sides  near  the  seat  where  the 
children  sat. 

"You'll  have  to  drive  slowly,"  said  Mr. 
Bunker  in  a  low  voice  to  Captain  Ben. 

"Yes,  we  can't  make  any  speed,"  said  the 
sailor.    "The  roads  are  mud  puddles  already." 

Indeed  it  had  rained  so  hard  that  in  a  very 
short  time  it  seemed  as  though  the  automobile 
was  going  along  through  a  small  brook  in- 
stead of  along  a  country  road.  It  was  very 
dark,  though  it  was  only  the  middle  of  the 
afternoon.  But  by  the  lightning  flashes,  which 
came  every  now  and  then,  the  four  little 
Bunkers,  looking  out  through  the  celluloid  win- 
dows in  the  side  curtains,  could  see  the  streams 
of  muddy  water  rushing  along  in  the  middle 
and  on  either  edge  of  the  country  road  along 
which  they  were  traveling. 

The  thunder,  too,  boomed  out  every  now 


A   QUEER  NIGHT  75 

and  then,  a  sound  at  which  Laddie  and  Vi 
would  jump  in  startled  surprise  and  nestle 
closer  to  Russ  and  Rose.  The  smaller  chil- 
dren were  not  exactly  afraid,  but  they  could 
not  help  jumping  at  the  loud  sound  made  by  the 
claps  of  thunder. 

Uncle  Ben  had  to  drive  the  car  more  and 
more  slowly,  for  it  was  slippery  on  the  muddy 
roads,  and  he  did  not  want  an  accident. 
Finally,  after  he  had  to  come  almost  to  a  stand- 
still where  a  brook  had  overflowed  the  road, 
Russ  and  Rose  heard  their  father  talking  to 
the  soldier-sailor. 

"Do  you  think  it  is  safe  to  go  on?"  asked 
Mr.  Bunker. 

"No,  I  can't  say  that  I  do,"  answered  Cap- 
tain Ben.  "I  think  we  shall  never  be  able  to 
get  to  Grand  View  to-night." 

"That's  too  bad,"  went  on  Daddy  Bunker. 
"I'm  not  worrying  about  Amy  and  Mun  Bun 
and  Margy,"  he  added.  "They  will  be  all  right 
in  your  bungalow.  But  what  are  we  going 
to  do?" 

"Well,  we  shall  have  to  put  up  somewhere 
over  night,"  answered  Captain  Ben. 

"Oh,  are  we  going  to  stay  at  a  hotel  ?"  asked 


76      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

Rose.  "I  like  hotels;  don't  you,  Russ?"  she 
asked  her  brother. 

"Sometimes  I  do,  when  they  have  good 
things  to  eat,"  he  answered,  but  his  last  words 
were  almost  lost  in  a  crash  of  thunder.  When 
the  echoes  of  that  had  quieted  down,  Captain 
Ben  said: 

"I  don't  believe  there  is  a  hotel  within  ten 
miles  of  us,  and  we  certainly  can  not  travel 
that  much  farther  in  this  storm." 

"Then  what  are  we  going  to  do?"  asked 
Daddy  Bunker. 

"Can't  we  stay  in  the  auto  all  night  ?"  asked 
Russ.  "We  have  some  blankets  and  things  in 
our  satchels." 

"I'm  afraid  none  of  you  would  sleep  much," 
said  Captain  Ben,  as  he  slowed  the  machine  to 
pass  a  bad  spot  in  the  road.  "No,  what  we 
shall  have  to  do,"  he  added,  "will  be  to  stop  at 
the  first  house  we  come  to  and  ask  them  if  they 
can  take  us  in  for  the  night.  Some  farmer 
may  be  kind  enough  to  let  us  stay  in  his  barn, 
if  there  isn't  room  in  the  house,  but  I  gues3 
they  can  manage,  even  if  they  have  to  make 
beds  on  the  floor." 

"I   like  to   sleep  on  the   floor!"   spoke  up 


A    QUEER   NIGHT  77 

Laddie.    "It  doesn't  hurt  then  if  you  fall  out." 

"No,  it  doesn't,"  agreed  his  father,  with  a 
laugh,  and  just  then  Rose  looked  ahead  and 
exclaimed : 

"There's  a  house!  Maybe  we  can  stop 
there!" 

A  lull  had  occurred  in  the  storm,  and 
through  the  mist  and  driving  rain  she  pointed 
to  a  large,  white  house  at  the  side  of  the  road. 

"I'll  try  that,"  said  Captain  Ben,  and  he 
steered  the  automobile  up  the  drive.  He  got 
out,  ran  up  the  steps  and  knocked  on  the  door. 
A  pleasant-faced  woman  answered.  What  was 
said  the  four  little  Bunkers  could  not  hear,  but 
presently  Captain  Ben  came  running  back. 

"They  will  let  us  all  stay  here  over  night," 
he  said.  "They  are  very  kind,  and  we  shall  be 
most  comfortable.  Hurry  up  on  the  porch, 
children,  before  it  starts  to  pour  again." 

Hardly  had  Rose  and  Russ,  Vi  and  Laddie 
got  under  the  shelter  of  the  broad  porch  of 
the  farmhouse  than  it  began  to  rain  harder 
than  ever.  But  the  children  did  not  mind  now, 
for  they  were  soon  to  be  in  better  shelter  than 
even  the  curtained  automobile  gave. 

The  farmer,  who  seemed  as  pleasant  as  his 


78      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

wife,  came  out  to  show  Captain  Ben  where 
to  put  the  automobile  in  the  wagon  house,  and 
soon  the  party  was  safe  and  snug  in  the  com- 
fortable house,  while  the  storm  raged  out- 
side. 

"Now  if  we  only  had  mother  and  Margy  and 
Mun  Bun  here,  we'd  be  all  right,"  observed 
Rose. 

"What's  that?  Are  there  any  more  of 
you?"  asked  the  farmer,  with  a  hearty  laugh 
as  he  looked  at  the  visitors.  "One,  two,  three, 
four!"  he  counted  the  children.  "Are  there 
any  more  ?" 

"Oh,  yes,"  answered  Rose,  also  laughing. 
"There  are  six  of  us  little  Bunkers.  Margy 
and  Mun  Bun  are  with  my  mother." 

"Well,  well !  Six  little  Bunkers !"  exclaimed 
the  farmer.  "And  I  have  four  of  'em !  Wish 
I  had  all  six  to  visit  me!"  he  added.  "I  like 
children,"  he  continued,  turning  to  Captain 
Ben  and  Daddy  Bunker.  "I  have  none  of  my 
own,  but  my  sister  is  visiting  me,  and  she  has 
three.  Hear  'em?"  he  asked,  holding  up  his 
hand  for  silence. 

As  the  four  little  Bunkers  and  the  others 
listened  during  a  lull  in  the  storm,  there  came 


A   QUEER  NIGHT  79 

from  upstairs  the  sound  of  merry  laughter  and 
shouting. 

"The  harder  it  rains  and  thunders  the 
harder  they  play  and  laugh,"  said  Mr.  White, 
as  the  farmer  said  his  name  was.  "I'll  bring 
my  sister's  three  youngsters  down  and  let  'em 
play  with  your  four.  Then  there'll  be  some 
little  Bunkers  and  little  brooks,"  he  went  on. 
"My  sister's  name  is  River,  and  I  call  the  chil- 
dren little  brooks,"  he  added,  with  another 
laugh. 

"Oh,  that's  almost  like  a  riddle!"  declared 
Laddie. 

"Oh,  ho!  So  you  know  riddles,  do  you?" 
asked  the  farmer. 

Just  then  there  was  a  loud  noise  out  in  the 
hall,  and  down  the  stairs  came  trooping  the 
three  little  "brooks,"  as  Mr.  White  called  his 
sister's  children.  They  soon  made  friends  with 
the  four  little  Bunkers,  and  then  the  storm  was 
forgotten. 

But  it  still  rained  hard,  and  the  automobile 
could  not  have  traveled  in  it,  so  it  was  a  good 
thing  they  all  stayed  at  the  comfortable  farm- 
house. Mr.  White  said  he  had  plenty  of  room 
for  them  all  to  sleep,  even  if  his  sister  was  visit- 


•0      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

ing  them,  and  Russ  was  rather  disappointed 
that  he  was  not  permitted  to  sleep  out  in  the 
haymow. 

"I  wish  I  could  get  word  to  my  wife  that  we 
will  not  be  along  until  to-morrow,"  said  Daddy 
Bunker,  when  it  was  certain  they  would  have 
to-  stay  all  night. 

"You  can  send  her  a  telegram,"  suggested 
Mr.  White. 

So  a  telegram  was  telephoned  to  the  nearest 
telegraph  office,  being  sent  to  Mrs.  Bunker, 
who,  by  this  time,  had  reached  Grand  View. 
Then  the  Bunkers  settled  down  to  stay  for  the 
night.  First,  however,  they  were  given  sup- 
per, and  such  fun  as  the  seven  children  had! 
They  laughed  and  talked,  and  Laddie  told  all 
the  riddles  he  knew. 

Tom,  Jack  and  Bess,  the  three  little 
"brooks,"  were  jolly  children  about  the  same 
age  as  the  four  little  Bunkers,  and  Tom,  the 
oldest  boy,  and  Russ  were  soon  fast  friends, 
while  Jack  and  Bess,  who  were  nearer  the  age 
of  Laddie  and  Vi,  went  off  in  a  corner  of  the 
big  living  room  after  the  meal  and  played 
games. 

At  night  Daddy  Bunker  and  Captain  Ben 


A    QUEER  NIGHT  81 

had  one  room,  while  Vi  went  in  with  Rose  and 
Laddie  slept  with  Russ. 

The  children  were  tired,  and  went  to  bed 
early.  Just  what  time  it  was  Rose  did  not 
know,  but  she  was  suddenly  awakened  by  feel- 
ing a  little  hand  on  her  face,  and  a  voice  said 
in  her  ear : 

"I  want  to  come  in  with  you !" 

"Is  that  you,  Margy?"  Rose  asked,  half 
asleep.  She  thought  for  a  moment  that  she 
was  back  at  home,  and  that  Margy  had  come 
to  "bunk  in,"  as  she  often  did. 

"No,  I'm  not  Margy,"  was  the  answer.  "I'm 
Bess.  An'  I  can't  sleep  with  Tack  'cause  he 
fumbles  so."  I  think  Bess  meant  tumbles,  but 
she  said  "fumbles." 

"Oh,  you're  one  of  the  little  brooks,  aren't 
you?"  asked  Rose,  more  wide  awake  now. 

"I'm  Bess,"  was  the  answer,  "an'  I  want  to 
come  in  with  you !" 

Rose  hardly  knew  what  to  do.  There  was 
scarcely  room  in  the  bed  where  she  and  Vi 
were  sleeping,  but  this  strange  little  girl  in- 
sisted on  climbing  up. 

Rose  was  thinking  perhaps  she  had  better 
call  her  father  or  Captain  Ben  and  ask  one  of 


82     SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

them  what  to  do,  when,  from  the  room  across 
the  hall  where  Russ  and  Laddie  had  a  bed, 
came  a  cry  from  the  little  riddle-asking  chap. 

"Here !  Quit  that !"  cried  Laddie.  "Let  me 
alone !    Stop  pulling  me  out  of  bed !" 

"Gracious,  what  a  queer  night!"  thought 
Rose,  as  she  sat  up  in  bed.  The  storm  had 
ended  and  it  was  very  quiet  except  for  the 
shouts  of  Laddie.    He  kept  on  calling: 

"Let  me  alone !  Oh,  there  you  go  f  Now  I'm 
out  of  bed!" 

There  was  a  thud,  and  the  whole  house 
seemed  to  shake. 


CHAPTER   IX 


IN    THE   DITCH 


Rose  jumped  out  of  bed,  brushing  aside  the 
little  River  girl  who  had  stolen  so  silently  into 
her  room,  and  hurried  out  into  the  hall,  where 
a  night  light  burned.  As  she  hastened  out, 
Rose  gave  a  hasty  glance  at  Violet.  Her  little 
sister  had  not  awakened. 

There  was  a  patter  of  bare  feet  behind  Rose, 
and  she  knew  that  Bess  was  following.  As  she 
went  after  Rose  into  the  hall  Bess  exclaimed : 

"Oh,  there  he  goes !  There  he  goes !  He's 
gone  and  done  it  again !" 

At  the  same  time  there  was  a  confusion  of 
voices  in  several  rooms,  and  some  one  called: 

"Never  mind,  Jack.    Mother's  coming!" 

This  was  just  what  Rose  had  often  heard 
her  mother  say  when  there  had  been  some 
scare  in  the  night  among  the  six  little  Bunkers. 

"He's  gone  and  done  it  again!"  cried  Bess, 

83 


84      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

and  she  now  clung  to  Rose's  nightgown.  Then 
from  the  room  whence  the  thud  of  the  fall 
had  come,  sounded  another  voice  crying : 

"I  didn't  mean  to !" 

"Well,  this  is  getting  more  and  more  queer 
all  the  while !"  thought  Rose,  rubbing  her  eyes 
to  make  herself  more  widely  awake.  "First  it 
was  Laddie  who  was  calling  about  being  pulled 
out  of  bed,  but  that  wasn't  Laddie  who  spoke 
last,  nor  Russ." 

A  moment  later  Russ  appeared,  coming  from 
the  room  where  he  had  been  sleeping  with  his 
small  brother  Laddie.  There  was  a  strange 
look  on  Russ'  face.  As  Rose  looked  at  him  she 
saw  the  little  figure  of  Jack  come  out  of  the 
room  behind  Russ,  even  as  Bess  had  followed 
her  out  of  her  room.  And  then  came  Laddie, 
making  a  procession  of  three  little  pajama-clad 
small  boys. 

At  the  other  end  of  the  hall  Daddy  Bunker 
appeared  in  his  dressing  gown,  and  then  came 
Mrs.  River  and  Mr.  White. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Daddy  Bunker. 

"I  don't  know,"  Rose  answered.  "But  this 
little  girl — Bess — came  into  my  room  and  woke 
me  up.    I  didn't  know  what  to  do,  and  then  I 


IN   THE   DITCH  85 

heard  Laddie  call  about  being  pulled  out  of 
bed,  and " 

"And  I  was  pulled  out  of  bed,  too !"  Laddie 
interrupted.  "Somebody  came  into  my  room 
in  the  night  and  pulled  all  the  covers  off  me, 
and  then  he  pulled  me,  and  it  wasn't  Russ, 
either!"  he  added. 

"No,  it  was  him!"  and  Bess  pointed  an  ac- 
cusing finger  at  her  small  brother  Jack.  "He 
did  it  again,  Uncle  Ned,"  she  added,  looking 
toward  Mr.  White. 

"Dear  me !  what  is  it  all  about  ?"  asked  Cap- 
tain Ben,  now  appearing.  "I  don't  quite  un- 
derstand." 

"I  think  I  can  explain,"  said  Mrs.  River, 
who  had  slipped  on  a  dressing  gown  and  slip- 
pers. "Jack  walked  in  his  sleep  again,  didn't 
he,  Bess?" 

"Yes,  Mother,  he  did.  He  got  awful 
scrambly  when  I  was  sleeping  with  him,  and  I 
thought  he  was  going  to  kick  me  out  of  bed, 
as  he  does  lots  of  times,  so  I  got  out  first." 

"You  did?"  exclaimed  her  mother.  "And 
where  did  you  go  ?" 

"In  with  her,"  answered  Bess,  pointing  to 
Rose. 


86      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Then  Jack  must  have  got  up  a  little  later 
and  pulled  this  little  boy  out  of  bed,"  said  Mrs. 
River.  "I  hope  he  didn't  hurt  you,"  and  she 
patted  Laddie  on  the  head. 

"Oh,  no'm.  I  fell  on  a  pile  of  bedclothes," 
he  answered.    "But  it  felt  funny  at  first." 

Jack,  the  innocent  cause  of  all  the  trouble, 
stood  scratching  his  back,  or  rather,  trying  to 
reach  an  itchy  place  in  the  very  center.  But 
his  arms  were  not  long  enough. 

"ril  scratch  it  for  you,"  offered  Laddie,  and 
he  did,  amid  the  laughter  of  the  grown  folk. 

"Is  that  all  that  happened?"  asked  Daddy 
Bunker,  when  quiet  was  restored. 

"Yes,"  was  the  answer  from  Russ.  "First 
I  knew  I  heard  Laddie  yelling,  and  then  he 
rolled  out  of  bed." 

"I  didn't  roll— I  was  pulled.  He  pulled  me !" 
said  Laddie,  pointing  to  the  poor  little  "brook" 
boy. 

"I — I  didn't  mean  to,"  said  the  poor  little  cul- 
prit. "I  didn't  know  what  I  was  doing.  I 
didn't  even  know  I  got  out  of  my  bed." 

"I  think,  when  you  get  back  in,  I'll  have  to 
tie  you  with  a  piece  of  clothesline,"  his  mother 
said.     "He  has  often  walked  in  his  sleep  be- 


IN    THE   DITCH  87 

fore,"  she  explained;  "but  I  never  knew  him  to 
pull  any  one  out  of  bed  until  now." 

The  excitement  was  soon  over,  and  the  chil- 
dren went  back  to  their  beds  and  to  sleep.  Mrs. 
River  took  Jack  in  with  her,  and  Bess  was 
allowed  to  sleep  with  Rose  and  Violet,  much  to 
the  delight  of  Bess.  Violet  never  awakened 
through  all  these  happenings,  nor  did  Tom,  the 
oldest  River  boy. 

The  sun  was  shining  when  the  four  little 
Bunkers  came  down  to  breakfast  the  next 
morning,  and  they  laughed  with  the  little 
"brooks"  at  the  memory  of  what  had  happened 
in  the  night. 

"As  soon  as  I  heard  that  big  bang  I  knew 
what  had  happened,"  said  Bess.  "I  knew  Jack 
had  gone  and  done  it  again,  but  I  didn't  know 
who  it  was  he  had  pulled  out  of  bed." 

Breakfast  over,  the  four  little  Bunkers,  with 
Captain  Ben  and  their  father,  got  ready  to  re- 
sume their  trip  to  Grand  View.  They  still  had 
many  miles  to  go,  but  they  thought  they  could 
make  it  by  night,  even  though  the  roads  were 
bad. 

"And  they  are  pretty  sure  to  be  in  poor  con- 
dition," said  Captain  Ben,  as  he  brought  the 


88      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

automobile  around  to  the  side  porch.  "We 
shall  have  to  drive  slowly  on  account  of  so 
much  slippery  mud  after  the  rain." 

Mr.  White  would  not  accept  any  money  for 
having  taken  care  of  the  travelers  over  night, 
and  after  thanking  him  and  saying  good-bye  to 
the  little  "brooks,"  promising  to  come  and  visit 
them  some  time,  the  Bunkers  started  off  once 
more. 

"We'll  have  lots  to  tell  mother  when  we  see 
her,"  said  Rose  as  she  settled  herself  in  the 
rear  seat  of  the  car. 

"I  should  say  so!"  exclaimed  Russ.  "It 
surely  was  funny  to  wake  up  and  hear  Laddie 
yelling,  and  then  to  hear  him  fall  out  of  bed !" 

"And  I  didn't  know  what  to  think  when  I 
felt  Bess  touch  me,"  remarked  Rose.  "At  first 
I  thought  it  was  Margy." 

"I  guess  Margy  and  Mun  Bun  are  playing 
near  the  ocean  now,"  said  Vi.  "I  wish  we 
were." 

"You'll  soon  be  with  them,"  promised  Cap- 
tain Ben. 

"And  I'm  going  to  try  to  think  up  a  riddle 
about  falling  out  of  bed,"  said  Laddie. 

Though  the  sun  shone  and  the  weather  was 


IN   THE   DITCH  89 

fine  now,  there  were  traces  of  the  night's  storm 
on  every  side.  In  some  places  there  were 
brooks  still  running  high  with  water,  and  in 
one  or  two  sections  the  road  bed  had  been 
washed  away,  so  that  Captain  Ben  had  to  drive 
slowly  and  carefully. 

They  had  just  left  a  small  village,  after  a 
stop  to  get  something  to  eat  and  to  let  the  chil- 
dren have  soda  water,  when  they  passed  a  man 
driving  an  empty  farm  wagon. 

"You  folks  want  to  watch  out  just  the  other 
side  of  the  white  bridge,"  this  man  called  to 
Captain  Ben. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Daddy  Bunker. 

"There's  a  bad  piece  of  road  just  after  you 
cross  the  white  bridge,"  was  the  answer.  "It's 
clay,  and  clay  is  slippery  when  it's  wet.  Watch 
out!" 

"We  will,"  promised  Captain  Ben,  and  he 
drove  slowly  along.  They  soon  came  in  sight 
of  the  white  bridge.  It  went  over  a  canal, 
and  there  was  a  hill  on  either  side  of  the  bridge, 
which  was  raised  high  over  the  canal  to  allow 
boats  to  pass  under  it. 

"I  should  say  it  was  a  bad,  slippery  road!" 
said  Captain  Ben,  as  the  machine  started  down 


90     SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

the  slope  after  crossing  the  bridge.  "I'll  just 
have  to  crawl." 

He  shut  off  all  power  and  put  on  the  brakes. 
For  a  little  way  the  car  went  down  well,  and 
it  seemed  as  if  nothing  would  happen.  Then, 
suddenly,  the  wheels  slipped  in  the  slimy  clay 
and  Daddy  Bunker  shouted: 

"Look  out!" 

But,  even  as  he  spoke,  the  automobile  slid  to 
one  side,  and  the  next  moment  there  was  a 
crash  and  the  four  little  Bunkers  and  their 
father  and  Captain  Ben  were  almost  standing 
on  their  heads  inside  the  automobile,  which 
slid  into  a  deep  ditch  partly  filled  with  water 
at  the  side  of  the  road. 


CHAPTER   X 


THE   BAD   RAM 


There  was  silence  for  a  moment,  following 
the  crash  of  the  big  touring  car  in  the  ditch, 
and  then  Violet  piped  up  in  her  shrill  voice  ask- 
ing, as  of  course  you  have  guessed,  a  question. 

"What  happened?"  demanded  Violet,  and 
then,  as  Captain  Ben  looked  back  and  saw  that 
all  four  little  Bunkers  were  safe  in  the  rear 
seat,  though  somewhat  mixed  up,  and  as  he 
saw  Daddy  Bunker  straightening  up  after  hav- 
ing slid  from  the  front  seat,  Captain  Ben 
laughed. 

"I  guess  more  things  happened  than  we'll 
know  about  right  away,"  answered  the  marine. 
"Are  any  of  you  hurt?" 

"I — I  guess  my  nose  got  bumped,"  said 
Laddie.    "It  feels  so,  anyhow." 

"You  ought  to  know  whether  or  not  you 
bumped  it,"  his  father  said. 

91 


92      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"I  didn't  bump  it — my  nose  bumped  itself 
on  the  back  of  your  seat,"  explained  Laddie. 
"Anyhow,  I  don't  guess  it's  bloodin',  is  it?"  he 
went  on,  holding  his  hand  to  his  nose.  "Blood- 
in'  "  was  Laddie's  word  for  bleeding. 

"No,  it  isn't  bloodin'  any,"  Vi  told  her 
brother.  "But,  oh,  wasn't  it  funny  the  way  we 
slid  into  the  ditch?" 

"I'm  glad  it  is  no  worse  than  funny,"  said 
Captain  Ben.  "I  felt  the  car  sliding  on  the 
slippery  road,  but  the  brakes  would  not  hold 
her  back.  I'm  afraid  something  is  broken,  but 
I'm  glad  none  of  our  bones  are." 

"Lessen  Laddie's  nose  is,"  put  in  Vi. 

By  this  time  Daddy  Bunker  and  the  chil- 
dren had  climbed  down  from  the  car.  They 
could  see  now  what  had  happened.  It  had 
slid  almost  head  first  into  the  roadside  ditch, 
which  was  partly  filled  with  muddy  water  from 
the  last  night's  rain.  The  radiator,  or  that 
part  of  the  automobile  which  is  kept  filled  with 
water  to  cool  the  engine,  was  thrust  into  the 
muddy  bank  on  the  far  side  of  the  ditch.  One 
of  the  front  wheels  was  broken,  and,  in  addi- 
tion, the  car  was  tilted  on  one  side.  If  it  had 
not  been  for  the  edges  of  the  ditch  holding  the 


THE  BAD  RAM  93 

car  up,  it  would  have  turned  right  over  on  its 
side. 

"Oh,  the  wheel  is  broken !"  exclaimed  Rose, 
as  she  looked  at  the  splintered  spokes. 

"And  we  can't  go  on  to  Grand  View  and  see 
mother !"  added  Vi. 

"Shall  we  have  to  stay  here  all  night?'' 
Laddie  asked.  "If  we  do,  we'd  better  get  a 
tent,  'cause  it  won't  be  any  fun  sleeping  in  the 
automobile  like  that." 

"No,  it  will  not,"  said  Captain  Ben,  as  he 
walked  around  the  car  and  looked  at  it  from 
all  sides  to  see  the  worst  of  the  damage.  "But 
we  won't  stay  here  all  night.  If  we  can't  go 
on  in  this  machine,  we'll  get  another." 

"I  don't  see  how  you  can  go  on  in  this  when 
a  wheel  is  smashed,"  said  Daddy  Bunker. 

"I  have  an  extra  wheel,"  Captain  Ben  said. 
"If  that  is  the  worst  of  the  damage  we  can 
get  over  that,  provided  we  can  get  pulled  out 
of  the  ditch.  That's  the  first  thing  to  be  done 
— get  pulled  out  of  the  ditch.  But  it  looks  as 
though  we  should  not  get  to  Grand  View  even 
to-night,  and  I  don't  know  what  Cousin  Amy 
will  think  of  me  for  keeping  her  four  little 
Bunkers  away  from  her  two  nights  in  succes- 


94      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

sion,  not  to  say  anything  about  her  big 
Bunker,"  and  as  he  said  this  Captain  Ben 
looked  at  the  children's  father. 

"Yes,  I  fear  Amy  will  be  missing  us,"  said 
Mr.  Bunker.  "But  we  don't  want  to  desert 
you,  Captain  Ben.  If  I  had  some  way  of  talk- 
ing to  Amy  and  telling  her  just  what  has  hap- 
pened, letting  her  know  the  children  are  safe, 
I'm  sure  she  wouldn't  mind  if  we  stayed  on 
the  road  another  night — that  is  if  we  have  to." 

"I'm  almost  sure  we'll  have  to,"  said  Cap- 
tain Ben.  "I  am  very  sorry,  but  I  seem  to  have 
brought  you  nothing  but  bad  luck  ever  since  I 
came.  When  I  arrived  your  chimney  was  on 
fire.  Then  almost  as  soon  as  we  start  out  we 
run  into  a  storm  and  have  to  stay  all  night. 
We  can't  even  have  a  peaceful  night,  for  Jack 
made  Laddie  fall  out  of  bed  and  there  were 
all  kinds  of  excitement." 

"That  was  only  fun!"  laughed  Rose. 

"It  sure  was,"  agreed  Russ.  "And  maybe 
this  will  be  fun,  too.  That  is,  if  mother  doesn't 
worry,  and  we  can  get  the  car  out  of  the  ditch," 
he  added. 

"Oh,  we  can  get  the  car  out  of  the  ditch, 
sooner  or  later,"  Captain  Ben  remarked.  "And 


THE    BAD    RAM  95 

I  fancy  we  can  get  word  to  your  mother — per- 
haps on  the  telephone.    We'll  try,  anyhow." 

As  he  spoke  he  thrust  out  his  left  arm  and 
glanced  down  at  his  wrist. 

"Ha !  I  forgot  about  my  watch  being  gone," 
he  exclaimed.  "I'm  so  in  the  habit  of  looking 
at  it  that  I  forget  it  isn't  on  my  wrist  any 
more." 

"Didn't  you  find  your  watch?"  asked  Daddy 
Bunker. 

"No,  it  was  lost  in  the  excitement  of  pack- 
ing, and  I  haven't  seen  it  since,"  the  soldier- 
marine  answered.  "I'd  give  a  good  reward  to 
get  it  back,  too,  for  I  prize  it  very  much  be- 
cause it  was  the  gift  of  a  Frenchman.  But  I 
don't  suppose  I'll  ever  find  it." 

"You  may,"  said  Daddy  Bunker  hopefully. 
"As  soon  as  we  get  to  your  bungalow  at  Grand 
View  I'll  write  back  and  ask  Jerry  Simms  or 
Norah  if  they  have  found  it.  They  may  have 
picked  it  up  after  we  left." 

"Yes,  they  might,"  agreed  Captain  Ben. 
"And  I'll  give  five  dollars  as  a  reward  to  who- 
ever finds  my  lost  watch,"  he  added. 

"Does  that  mean  any  of  us?"  asked  Russ 
eagerly. 


96      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Yes,  any  of  the  six  little  Bunkers,"  an- 
swered Captain  Ben.  "Or  either  of  the  two 
big  Bunkers,  which  means  daddy  or  mother," 
he  added.  "But  we  won't  worry  about  my  lost 
watch  now.  The  main  things  to  do  are  to  get 
our  auto  out  of  the  ditch  and  to  let  Mother 
Bunker  know  that  we  are  all  right  and  that 
we'll  not  be  at  Grand  View  to-night,  unless  you 
folks  go  on  in  the  train  and  let  me  come  later 
in  the  machine  after  I  get  it  fixed." 

"No,  we'll  stay  with  you,"  said  Daddy 
Bunker.  "We  won't  desert  the  ship,  as  the 
sailors  would  say.  Of  course  I  suppose  I  could 
send  the  children  on  and  stay  with  you  my- 
self," he  remarked. 

"Oh,  no !  Please  let  us  stay !"  begged  Russ. 
"It's  lots  of  fun  being  wrecked  in  an  auto." 

"I  like  it,  too,"  said  Laddie.  "And  maybe  I 
can  think  of  a  funny  riddle  about  going  in  the 
ditch  to  tell  mother." 

"All  right ;  then  we'll  stay  with  Captain  Ben 
and  help  get  the  machine  out  of  the  ditch," 
said  Daddy  Bunker.  "After  it  is  on  level 
ground  we  can  try  to  put  on  the  extra  wheel, 
and  perhaps  then  we  can  travel  and  get  to 
Grand  View  rather  late  to-night." 


THE   BAD   RAM  97 

"I  hope  so,"  said  Captain  Ben.  "If  we  could 
get  some  fence  rails,  perhaps  we  could  raise  the 
auto  out  of  the  ditch  ourselves.  I  used  to  do 
such  things  in  France  during  the  war." 

"There's  lots  of  fences  around  here,"  ob- 
served Russ. 

This  was  true  enough.  The  auto  had  gone 
into  the  ditch  near  the  canal,  and  it  was  in  a 
part  of  the  country  where  there  were  many 
fields,  bordered  by  rail  fences.  A  long  fence 
rail  makes  a  very  good  lever,  or  lifter,  for  an 
auto,  Captain  Ben  explained. 

While  the  four  little  Bunkers  wandered 
along  the  roadside,  gathering  flowers  and  toss- 
ing stones  into  a  little  brook,  Captain  Ben  and 
Daddy  Bunker  took  some  rails  from  the  fence. 
They  intended  to  put  them  back  when  they  had 
finished  using  them.  With  stones  they  built  up 
a  sort  of  pile,  or  pyramid,  on  which  to  rest 
part  of  the  rail,  while  one  end  of  it  was  shoved 
under  the  wheel  that  was  deepest  in  the  mud  of 
the  ditch.  Then  the  two  men  pressed  down 
on  the  other  end  of  the  rail. 

Russ,  who  did  not  care  much  about  picking 
flowers,  came  back  to  watch  his  father  and  the 
captain.     Russ  wanted  to  help,  but  he  knew 


98      SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

this  was  no  time  to  ask,  so  he  sat  on  the  grassy 
bank  whistling  softly,  and  making  a  little  boat 
out  of  a  piece  of  wood. 

"I  think  we'll  have  to  get  help,"  said  Cap- 
tain Ben,  as  he  straightened  up  after  he  and 
Daddy  Bunker  had  pressed  down  heavily  on 
the  long  end  of  the  rail.  "The  two  of  us  to- 
gether are  not  strong  enough  to  raise  the  car 
out  of  the  ditch." 

"Maybe  I  could  help !"  offered  Russ  eagerly. 

"Not  just  yet,"  his  father  said,  with  a  laugh. 
"Though  a  little  later  on  we  may  call  on  you. 
I  wonder  if  there  is  a  place  around  here  where 
we  could  get  a  couple  of  farmers  to  give  us  a 
hand,"  he  went  on. 

"Here  comes  a  canal  boat,"  said  Russ,  look- 
ing down  the  still,  quiet  stream  of  water  which 
was  not  like  a  brook  or  a  river.  The  water  in 
the  canal  did  not  run,  but  remained  as  still  as 
the  water  in  a  bath  tub. 

"It's  a  nice  canal  boat,"  went  on  Russ,  "and 
it's  got  some  mules  pulling  it,  and  a  man  is 
driving  the  mules.  Maybe  he'd  lend  us  his 
mules  to  help  pull  the  auto  out  of  the  ditch." 

"Maybe  he  would,"  agreed  Mr.  Bunker. 
"We'll  ask  him.    But  first  let's  put  the  fence 


THE   BAD   RAM  99 

rail  back  under  the  wheel  so  when  the  canal 
boat  man  comes  along  we  may  show  him  what 
we  want  to  do." 

As  Daddy  Bunker  and  Captain  Ben  leaned 
over  to  put  the  fence  rail  in  place,  Russ  turned 
from  looking  at  the  canal  boat  to  glance  over 
the  field  near  the  half  overturned  auto.  And 
the  boy  caught  sight  of  something  that  made 
him  cry: 

"Oh,  look  out !    Look  out !    Here  he  comes !" 

"Who's  coming?"  asked  Daddy  Bunker. 
"If  it's  a  farmer  who  is  going  to  find  fault  be- 
cause we  borrowed  his  fence  rails,  we  can  offer 
to  pay  him." 

"Oh,  it  isn't  a  farmer!"  cried  Russ.  "It's 
worse !  It's  a  bad  ram !  A  big,  ugly  sheep  with 
horns,  and  he's  going  to  bunk  into  Captain 
Ben,  I  guess !    Oh,  look  out !" 


CHAPTER   XI 


THE   APPLE   BOY 


What  Russ  had  said  was  perfectly  true. 
Daddy  Bunker  looked  around  just  in  time  to 
see  a  big  ram  bounding  out  of  the  meadow 
toward  Captain  Ben,  who  was  stooping  to  put 
the  fence  rail  under  the  broken  wheel  of  the 
automobile.  And  it  was  because  of  the  rails 
that  had  been  taken  off  the  fence  that  the  ram 
was  able  to  get  out  of  his  meadow. 

"Oh,  look!"  screamed  Rose,  who,  with 
Laddie  and  Vi,  had  come  back  to  the  automo- 
bile, their  hands  full  of  wayside  flowers. 

"Don't  let  him  bunk  into  me !"  shrieked  Vi. 

"I'll  make  him  go  back !  I'll  throw  stones  at 
him!"  cried  Laddie. 

"Indeed  you'll  not  do  anything  of  the  sort !" 

exclaimed  Rose.     "Come  back  here,  Laddie 

Bunker!"  and  she  caught  her  little  brother  by 

his  jacket  and  stopped  him  from  running  for- 

100 


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THE  BIG  RAM  RUSHED  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN. 
Six  Little  Bunkers  at  Captain  Ben's  Page  101 


THE  APPLE  BOY  101 

ward.  Laddie  had  dropped  his  flowers,  and 
was  going  to  pick  up  some  stones. 

Russ  had  jumped  to  his  feet  and  seized  a 
stick.  With  that  he  intended  to  do  as  Laddie 
had  said  he  was  going  to — attack  the  ram. 
But  as  the  sheep  creature  with  his  long  horns 
carre  nearer,  and  as  Laddie  saw  what  a  big, 
ugly  animal  he  was,  the  boy  did  not  feel  much 
like  standing  his  ground. 

By  this  time  Captain  Ben,  who  had  not  as 
yet  seen  the  ram,  straightened  up. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  the  marine. 
"Has  another  accident  happened?" 

Just  as  he  said  this,  and  before  Daddy 
Bunker  could  do  as  he  was  going  to  do,  and 
thrust  a  fence  rail  between  the  ram's  legs  to 
trip  him,  the  big  sheep  rushed  full  at  Captain 
Ben. 

"Baa-a-a-a !"  bleated  the  ram,  and  with  low- 
ered head  and  curved  horns,  he  struck  Captain 
Ben  "amidships,"  as  the  marine  said  after  it 
was  all  over. 

There  was  a  dull  thud,  and  Captain  Ben  was 
knocked  over  and  down  into  the  same  ditch 
into  which  the  automobile  had  nearly  turned  a 
somersault. 


192    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Hi,  there!  Stop  that!  Go  on  away!" 
yelled  Russ,  jumping  up  and  down,  swinging 
his  hat  in  one  hand  and  waving  a  stick  in  the 
other.    "Go  on  away!" 

But  the  ram  paid  no  attention  to  the  shouts 
of  the  boy,  nor  to  the  screams  of  Rose,  Laddie 
and  Violet  in  the  road  a  safe  distance  away. 

"Are  you  hurt,  Captain  Ben  ?"  asked  Daddy 
Bunker,  as  he  caught  up  a  heavy  rail  and 
started  toward  the  ram. 

"No,  not  at  all,"  came  the  answer  from  Cap- 
tain Ben,  who  was  getting  up,  after  having 
been  knocked  down  into  the  ditch.  "Luckily 
for  me  I  fell  on  a  lot  of  soft  grass." 

"Don't  get  up  or  come  this  way,  or  this 
brute  will  butt  you  down  again,"  warned  Daddy 
Bunker.  "I'll  see  if  I  can  drive  him  away. 
Stay  on  the  other  side  of  the  ditch." 

"No,  I'm  coming  to  help  you.  The  ram  may 
try  to  horn  some  of  the  children,"  returned  the 
soldier-sailor.  It  was  just  like  Captain  Ben 
not  to  run  away  from  a  fight,  either  with  some 
enemy  on  the  battle  field  or  a  savage  ram  in  a 
meadow. 

Not  much  hurt  by  having  been  knocked  head 
over  heels,  Captain  Ben  caught  up  a  stick,  like 


THE  APPLE  BOY  103 

Daddy  Bunker,  and,  leaping  across  the  ditch, 
started  to  run  toward  the  ram.  The  big,  woolly 
creature  stood  on  a  little  hill,  looking  at  the 
partly  overturned  automobile,  then  at  the  two 
men  rushing  toward  him,  and  then  at  Russ 
and  the  other  children. 

"You  get  back  where  you  belong  and  let  me 
work  on  my  auto!"  called  Captain  Ben,  as  he 
raised  his  fence  rail  to  push  the  ram  away. 
"Get  back  in  your  own  meadow!" 

"We  can't  make  him  stay  there  unless  we 
put  back  the  fence  rails,  I  guess,"  said  Daddy 
Bunker.  "And  we  have  to  use  them  to  get  the 
auto  out  of  the  ditch." 

The  two  men,  with  the  long  rails,  rushed  at 
the  ram.  But  he  stood  his  ground,  shaking  his 
head,  stamping  with  his  forefeet,  and  uttering 
loud"Baa-a-as!" 

Just  as  Daddy  Bunker  and  Uncle  Ben  were 
going  to  thrust  at  the  ram,  a  voice  behind  them 
called : 

"Look  out,  friends!  That's  a  bad  animal! 
Once  he  goes  on  a  rampage  there's  no  stopping 
him." 

The  four  little  Bunkers  and  their  father  and 
Captain   Ben  turned  to  see  the  canal  mule 


104    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

driver  rushing  to  their  aid  with  a  long  whip 
in  his  hand. 

"I  know  old  Hector,  the  ram !"  said  the  mule 
driver.  "He's  butted  me  more  than  once,  and 
he  tried  to  butt  one  of  my  mules.  But  that 
time  he  got  the  worst  of  it.  Better  let  him 
alone!" 

"But  we  want  to  drive  him  away,"  called 
Captain  Ben.  "He  knocked  me  into  the  ditch, 
and  he  won't  let  us  get  our  auto  out.  We've 
got  to  drive  him  away." 

"Well,  then,  I'll  help  you,"  offered  the  mule 
driver.  "Maybe  if  all  three  of  us  go  at  him 
at  once  we  can  scare  him  away." 

"Let  me  help !"  begged  Russ.  "I  can  throw 
stones !" 

"No!  No!"  exclaimed  his  father.  "You 
look  after  Rose  and  the  children.  Better  climb 
back  into  the  auto.    He  can't  get  at  you  there." 

Russ  started  to  do  as  his  father  had  re- 
quested, and  then  the  three  men  rushed  at  the 
ram  together.  The  mule  driver  cracked  his 
whip,  making  sounds  like  Fourth  of  July  fire- 
crackers. Captain  Ben  and  Daddy  Bunker 
shouted  and  waved  their  fence  rails.  The  ram 
stood  for  a  moment,  poised  on  top  of  a  little 


THE  APPLE  BOY  105 

mound  of  grass,  where  he  had  climbed  after 
butting  Captain  Ben. 

"Baa-a-a-a !"  bleated  the  big  sheep,  as 
though  saying  he  was  not  afraid  of  all  of  them. 

But  before  Captain  Ben  or  Daddy  Bunker 
could  reach  at  him  with  the  rails,  and  before 
the  mule  driver  could  flick  him  with  the  crack- 
ing whip,  the  ram  thought  better  of  his  idea. 
He  uttered  another  loud  "Baa-a-a!"  and  then, 
turning,  ran  back  into  the  field  whence  he  had 
come. 

"Oh,  I'm  so  glad  he's  gone!"  cried  Rose, 
who,  with  the  other  little  Bunkers,  had  been 
about  to  climb  into  the  tilted  automobile. 

"He  may  come  back  again,"  said  the  mule 
driver.  "He's  a  bad  one,  all  right,  that  ram  is. 
Fve  been  traveling  this  canal  towpath  for  five 
years,  and  I  know  old  Hector.  Whenever  he 
gets  loose  there's  trouble." 

"I  guess  we  were  too  much  for  him  this 
time,"  said  Daddy  Bunker.  "I  fancy  he  did 
not  like  the  cracking  of  your  whip." 

"That's  about  the  only  way  I  can  scare  him," 
said  the  mule  driver.  "I'll  keep  it  handy  in 
case  he  comes  back." 

But  Hector,  the  ram,  did  not  seem  to  have 


106    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

any  idea  of  coming  back.  He  ambled  off  over 
the  green  meadow,  now  and  then  looking  back 
and  uttering  a  "Baa-a-a!"  It  was  as  though 
he  had  decided  he  had  had  enough  fun  for  one 
day.  And  he  must  have  laughed  to  himself, 
if  rams  ever  laugh,  at  the  funny  manner  in 
which  he  had  butted  Captain  Ben  head  over 
heels  into  the  ditch. 

"My,  but  you  seem  to  be  in  a  peck  of 
trouble,"  said  the  mule  driver,  as  he  looked  at 
the  automobile  in  the  ditch.  "Can  I  help 
any?" 

"I  was  just  going  to  ask  you  to,  when  my 
little  boy  called  out  about  the  ram,"  answered 
Daddy  Bunker.  "Do  you  think  you  can  help 
us  get  the  auto  on  level  ground,  so  we  can 
put  on  an  extra  wheel?" 

"I'll  do  my  best,"  offered  the  mule  driver. 
"I  saw  something  was  wrong,  so  I  ran  over 
from  the  towpath.  There's  another  man  on 
the  boat.  I'll  call  him.  I  guess  the  four  of 
us  can  manage  it.  But  it  will  probably  take 
some  time." 

"Yes,  I  think  it  will,"  said  Daddy  Bunker. 
"And  it  is  nearly  noon,  too.  Do  you  know  if 
there  is  a  hotel  around  here,  or  a  place  where 


THE  APPLE   BOY  107 

I  can  take  the  children  to  stay  while  we  are 
working  on  the  car?" 

"There  isn't  any  hotel,"  said  the  mule  driver, 
"but  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  down  the  road 
is  Mr.  Brown's  place.  He  has  a  big  farm  and 
orchard,  and  he  sells  meals  to  auto  travelers, 
and  sometimes  keeps  them  over  night." 

"That  might  be  just  the  place  for  us,"  said 
Daddy  Bunker.  "We  may  have  to  stay  all 
night  again." 

"If  we  do,"  said  Rose,  "I  hope  nobody  walks 
in  his  sleep." 

"What's  she  mean?"  asked  the  mule  driver. 

"That's  what  happened  where  we  stayed 
last  night,"  explained  Mr.  Bunker.  "There 
were  some  other  children  at  the  farmhouse, 
and  one  of  them  walked  in  his  sleep." 

"There  aren't  any  children  at  Mr.  Brown's," 
said  the  mule  driver,  "and  I  never  heard  of 
him  or  his  wife  walking  in  their  sleep.  They 
have  good  meals  there,  too — roast  chicken,  hot 
biscuits,  pie,  cake " 

"Oh,  I'm  so  hungry !"  cried  Vi.  "Mayn't  we 
stay  there,  Daddy?" 

"At  least  we'll  go  there  for  dinner,"  said  her 
father.     "And  then,  later,  we'll  decide  about 


108    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

to-night.  Come  on,  children,  I'll  take  you  to 
Mr.  Brown's  country  farm  hotel,  and  then  I'll 
come  back  to  help  Captain  Ben." 

Mr.  Brown's  place  proved  to  be  a  sort  of 
wayside  boarding  house,  where  automobile 
parties  often  stopped.  He  and  his  wife  said 
they  would  look  after  the  children  while  the 
men  worked  on  the  automobile.  And,  if  need 
be,  the  party  could  stay  all  night. 

"The  only  thing  is  I  must  get  word  to  my 
wife.  I'd  like  to  talk  to  her  on  the  telephone," 
said  Daddy  Bunker. 

"I  have  a  long  distance  telephone  right  in 
the  house,"  said  Mr.  Brown.  "You  call  her  up 
and  see  what  she  says." 

This  Mr.  Bunker  did,  managing  to  get  his 
wife  on  the  telephone  in  Grand  View.  He  told 
her  briefly  what  had  happened,  and  said  they 
might  not  be  at  Captain  Ben's  bungalow  that 
night  even,  on  account  of  the  accident. 

Mrs.  Bunker  told  her  husband  not  to  worry, 
as  she  was  all  right  with  Margy  and  Mun  Bun, 
though  of  course  lonesome  for  him  and  the 
other  little  Bunkers. 

"Then  we'll  remain  here  to-night  if  we  can't 
get  the  car  fixed,"  said  Daddy  Bunker  to  Mr. 


THE  APPLE  BOY  109 

Brown.  "I'll  let  the  children  stay  here  now, 
and  Captain  Ben  and  I  will  come  and  get  our 
dinner  a  little  later." 

Russ,  Rose,  Laddie  and  Vi  thought  the 
Brown  homestead  was  one  of  the  nicest  places 
they  had  ever  visited.  While  dinner  was  being 
got  ready  they  sat  on  the  broad  porch  and  told 
Mr.  Brown  some  of  their  adventures  so  far  on 
this  trip. 

"My,  you've  had  a  lot  happen  to  you,"  he 
said.  "Automcbiling  is  a  risky  business  I  take 
it.  I'll  stick  to  horses.  I  remember  once  I 
was  in  an  auto  and  I " 

Mr.  Brown  stopped  suddenly,  looked  down 
toward  his  orchard  and  cried : 

"There  he  is  again !  That  pesky  apple  boy ! 
I'll  get  him  this  time,  and  I'll  teach  him  to  steal 
my  fruit !  Hi  there,  you  pesky  apple  boy !"  he 
shouted,  as  he  leaped  from  his  chair  and  started 
on  a  run  toward  the  orchard. 


CHAPTER   XII 


OFFERING   HELP 


Russ,.  Rose,  Laddie,  and  Vi,  who  had  been 
sitting  in  chairs  on  the  porch  near  Mr.  Brown, 
listening  to  him  talk  about  the  uncertainties  of 
an  automobile,  also  jumped  up  as  the  boarding- 
house  keeper  cried  out  and  left  his  seat.  Russ 
looked  in  the  direction  the  farmer  pointed  and 
saw,  amid  the  trees  in  the  apple  orchard,  a  boy 
about  his  own  size  running  as  fast  as  he  could 
run  toward  a  fence.  And,  as  the  boy  ran, 
apples  dropped  from  his  pockets  to  the  grass. 

"Hi  there,  stop,  you  pesky  apple-taker  of  a 
boy!"  yelled  Mr.  Brown.  "What  do  you  mean 
by  coming  into  my  orchard  and  taking  my 
apples !" 

The  boy  said  never  a  word,  but  ran  all  the 
faster  toward  the  fence. 

"Come  on !"  called  Russ  to  Rose.    "Let's  go 

and  see  if  he  catches  him !" 

no 


OFFERING  HELP  111 

Laddie  and  Vi  followed  their  older  brother 
and  sister  down  off  the  porch,  and  ran  after 
Mr.  Brown  into  the  apple  orchard,  which  was 
not  far  from  the  house. 

"What's  the  matter,  children?"  cried  Mrs. 
Brown,  coming  from  her  kitchen  where  she 
was  getting  dinner  ready.  "Are  you  running 
away?" 

"We're  going  to  see  Mr.  Brown  catch  the 
apple  boy,"  Russ  answered  back  over  his 
shoulder. 

"Is  that  pesky  apple  boy  here  again  ?"  asked 
the  farmer's  wife. 

"What's  a  pesky  apple  boy?"  asked  Laddie, 
as  he  ran  along  beside  Russ.  "Is  it  a  riddle? 
If  it  is  I  wish  she  or  Mr.  Brown  would  tell  me 
the  answer." 

"No,  'pesky'  is  sort  of  mean,  I  think,"  ex- 
plained Russ. 

"Hi  there!  Don't  you  run  off  with  my 
apples !"  shouted  the  farmer  again,  and  by  this 
time  the  boy  had  reached  the  fence.  He  started 
to  climb  over  it,  but  it  was  too  high,  or  else  he 
was  too  small,  and  as  he  wiggled  and  struggled 
many  more  apples  kept  dropping  from  his 
pockets.    He  seemed  to  have  filled  his  coat  and 


112    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

trousers  pockets  pretty  full  with  Mr.  Brown's 
apples. 

"Now  I  have  you !"  cried  Mr.  Brown,  as  he 
rushed  up  to  the  boy  and  pulled  him  back  just 
as  the  little  fellow  might  have  gotten  over  the 
fence  if  he  had  had  a  moment  more.  "Now  I 
have  you!  I'll  teach  you  to  take  my  apples! 
I  warned  you  if  I  caught  you  in  my  orchard 
again  I'd  have  you  arrested,  and  now  I'm  going 
to !    I  told  you  to  keep  out  of  my  orchard !" 

"No,  you  didn't,"  answered  the  boy  in  a  sul- 
len voice,  as  the  farmer  took  hold  of  his  collar 
and  began  to  drag  him  toward  the  house. 

"What  makes  you  say  I  didn't?"  demanded 
Mr.  Brown,  while  Russ,  Rose,  and  the  others 
looked  on  wonderingly.  "Didn't  I  tell  you  not 
to  take  any  more  of  my  apples?" 

"No,  you  didn't !"  exclaimed  the  boy.  "And 
I  wish  you'd  let  me  go !  I  never  was  in  your 
orchard  before,  and  I  never  took  any  of  your 
apples  before,  and  I  wouldn't  have  taken  any 
now  only  I  was  so  hungry  I  was  almost 
starved !" 

His  chin  began  to  tremble,  and  so  did  his 
lips,  and  it  was  easy  to  see  he  was  almost  ready 
to  cry. 


OFFERING  HELP  113 

Mrs.  Brown  came  down  through  the  orchard 
to  meet  her  husband. 

"I  see  you  caught  him,"  she  said.  "We'll 
teach  him  not  to  take  any  more  of  our  apples ! 
Bring  him  along  and  send  for  the  constable. 
He'll  take  him  to  the  lockup !" 

"Oh,  please  don't  have  me  arrested!" 
begged  the  boy,  who  was  a  little  older  than 
Russ.  "I  never  took  any  of  your  apples  before, 
and  I  wouldn't  have  taken  any  now,  only  I  was 
so  hungry  I  couldn't  help  it.  I  didn't  have  any 
supper,  and  I  didn't  have  any  breakfast  and 
I  didn't  see  where  I  was  going  to  get  any  din- 
ner, and " 

"Here,  Abner  Brown,  you  let  that  boy  go !" 
suddenly  exclaimed  Mrs.  Brown,  and  there  was 
a  new  note  in  her  voice  and  a  different  look  on 
her  face.  "Poor  child !  He's  half  starved,  any- 
body can  see  that !  And  I  have  a  good  dinner 
almost  cooked  and  ready  to  serve.  You  come 
right  along  with  me,  poor  child.  I'll  give  you 
your  dinner  with  these  other  children." 

"Oh,  thank  you !"  said  the  boy,  as  the  farmer 
let  go  of  him.  "Honest,  I  never  took  any  of 
your  apples  before.  I  only  just  got  here,"  he 
went  on.    "I've  been  walking  a  long  way,  and 


114    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

when  I  saw  the  apples  I  was  so  hungry  I  just 
couldn't  help  taking  a  few." 

"Are  you  sure  you  were  never  in  my  orchard 
before?"  asked  Mr.  Brown. 

"Sure!"  was  the  answer.  "I  never  was  in 
this  town  before.  I  don't  even  know  the  name 
of  it." 

"Of  course  this  isn't  the  same  boy,  Abner," 
went  on  Mrs.  Brown.  "A  body  could  see  that 
with  their  eyes  shut.  The  other  boy,  who's 
been  taking  our  apples,  has  red  hair.  This 
boy's  is  brown.    'Tisn't  the  same  one  at  all!" 

"I'm  glad  of  it,"  said  the  farmer.  "But  I 
would  like  to  catch  that  chap  who's  been  steal- 
ing from  my  orchard.  Not  that  I  mind  a  few 
apples.  I'd  give  'em  to  him  willingly  if  he'd 
come  and  ask  me.  But  I  don't  like  a  pesky 
apple  thief!  Though  how  you  can  see  even 
red  hair  with  your  eyes  shut,  Mother,  I  don't 
know,"  he  added,  with  a  laugh  at  his  wife. 

"Never  mind  about  that,"  she  said  to  her 
husband.  "He  isn't  the  same  boy,  and  I'm  glad 
of  it.  Come  on  up  to  the  house,"  she  went  on. 
"I  reckon  I  can  give  you  a  better  dinner  than 
just  apples,  though  they're  good  enough  to  eat 
when  you  want  'em." 


OFFERING  HELP  11* 

"Thank  you,"  said  the  boy  gratefully.  "I'll 
do  some  chores  for  you  to  pay  for  my  meal  and 
the  apples  I  took,  if  you'll  let  me,"  he  went  on. 
"I  offered  to  work  for  a  man  last  night,  to  pay 
for  my  supper,  but  he  wouldn't  let  me,  and  he 
said  if  I  didn't  get  off  his  place  he'd  set  his 
ugly  old  ram  after  me." 

"Maybe  that's  the  same  ram  that  butted  Cap- 
tain Ben!"  exclaimed  Rose. 

"Did  that  old  ram  of  Hank  Yardon's  get 
loose?"  asked  Mr.  Brown,  as  he  walked  back 
to  the  house  with  the  children. 

"Yes,"  answered  Russ,  and  he  told  what  had 
happened. 

"Well,  well!"  said  the  farmer.  "It's  a  good 
thing  the  canal  mule  driver  happened  along. 
Hector  is  a  bad  one!" 

"Do  you  live  here?"  asked  the  "apple  boy," 
as  Rose  called  him.  He  put  his  question  to 
Russ,  beside  whom  he  was  walking  to  the 
house. 

"No,"  was  the  answer.  "We're  on  our  way 
to  Captain  Ben's  at  Grand  View  and " 

"Where'd  you  say?"  interrupted  the  boy 
quickly. 

"Captain  Ben's,"  said  Rose. 


116    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"No,  I  mean  the  name  of  the  place." 

"Oh!  Grand  View,"  went  on  Russ.  "It's 
on  the  seashore,  and  we're  going  there  for  our 
second  vacation.  We  had  one  at  Uncle  Fred's 
ranch  in  the  West,  but  something  went  wrong 
with  the  pipes  in  our  school,  and  we  couldn't 
go  back  for  a  month,  so  Captain  Ben  invited 
us  to  Grand  View." 

"Hum !  Yes.  Grand  View,"  murmured  the 
apple  boy,  who  had  said  his  name  was  Tad 
Munson. 

"Do  you  know  where  it  is?"  asked  Rose, 
while  Laddie  and  Vi  ran  on  ahead,  racing  to 
see  who  would  first  reach  the  front  porch  of  the 
farmhouse. 

"Yes,  I  know,"  was  the  low-voiced  answer. 
"And  I  wish  I  was  there.  But  I  don't  see  how 
I  can  get  there.  All  my  money  is  gone,  and 
none  of  the  farmers  want  any  work  done  that 
I  can  do.  But  I'm  glad  I'm  going  to  have 
some  dinner,"  he  went  on.  "I  can  smell  it  now, 
and  it  makes  me  hungrier  than  ever." 

"I'm  hungry,  too,"  said  Russ. 

"Are  you  going  around  in  an  automobile?" 
asked  Vi,  coming  back  after  she  had  beaten 
Laddie  in  a  race  to  the  porch. 


OFFERING  HELP  117 

"An  automobile?  I  should  say  not!"  cried 
the  boy.    "I  travel  on  shanks'  mules,  I  do." 

"Are  they  like  canal  mules?"  Vi  wanted  to 
know. 

"Not  exactly,"  answered  the  boy,  smiling. 
"They're  my  legs — shanks  I  call  'em — and  I've 
walked  many  a  mile  on  'em  since  I — well,  for 
the  last  week,"  he  said  quickly. 

Russ  looked  at  the  boy  sharply.  There 
seemed  to  be  something  strange  about  him — 
as  though  he  wanted  to  hide  something — to 
hide  something  more  than  the  apples  he  had 
stuffed  into  his  pockets. 

"If  I  could  get  back  anywhere  near  Grand 
View  I'd  never  go  away  again,"  said  the  boy  in 
a  low  voice.  "I  guess  I  did  wrong,  but  it's  too 
late  now.     I  wish " 

Just  then  the  voice  of  Mrs.  Brown  was  heard 
calling : 

"Come  to  dinner,  children!" 

"Ah!  That  sounds  good!"  murmured  Tad 
Munson. 

Russ,  Rose  and  the  others  thought  the  same, 
and  soon  they  were  sitting  down  to  a  bounti- 
fully supplied  table.  As  the  canal  mule  driver 
had  said,  there  was  roast  chicken,  hot  biscuits 


118    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

with  plenty  of  gravy,  and  many  other  good 
things. 

"I  wish  Daddy  and  Captain  Ben  could  have 
some  of  this,"  said  Rose,  as  she  passed  her 
plate  for  a  second  helping. 

"Oh,  I'll  save  plenty  for  them,"  said  Mrs. 
Brown.  "I  always  cook  a  lot,  because  auto- 
mobile folks  are  almost  always  hungrier  than 
the  general  run.  Are  you  feeling  better  ?"  she 
asked  the  strange  boy  who  had  taken  the 
apples. 

"Oh,  I  feel  a  lot  better,"  he  said.  "I  can't 
thank  you  enough,  nor  tell  you  how  sorry  I  am 
I  took  your  apples,"  said  Tad.  "I'll  do  some 
chores  to  pay  for  my  meal." 

"I  think  we  sha'n't  worry  about  that,"  said 
Mr.  Brown,  with  a  laugh.  "I  didn't  mean  to 
collar  you  quite  so  roughly,  but  I've  been  both- 
ered a  lot  with  the  pesky  apple  boys." 

"I  know  a  riddle  about  apples,"  said  Laddie. 

"Do  you?"  asked  Mrs.  Brown.  "What  is 
it?" 

"It's  like  this,"  went  on  Laddie.  "Why  is 
an  apple  like  a  wax  doll?" 

"Why  is  an  apple  like  a  wax  doll?  I  never 
heard  of  such  a  thing!"  laughed  the  farmer's 


OFFERING  HELP  119 

wife.  "An  apple  isn't  any  like  a  wax  doll  that 
I  can  see." 

"Yes  it  is,"  said  Laddie.  "An  apple  is  like 
a  wax  doll  'cause  they  both  have  red  cheeks. 
A  wax  doll  has  red  cheeks,  and  an  apple  has 
red  cheeks." 

"What  about  a  green  apple?"  asked  Mr. 
Brown,  as  the  others  laughed  at  Laddie's  little 
riddle. 

"Oh,  well,  I  didn't  mean  a  green  apple," 
said  the  little  boy. 

Dinner  was  half  over  when  Daddy  Bunker 
and  Captain  Ben  came  in. 

"Did  you  get  the  auto  out  of  the  ditch?" 
asked  Russ. 

"Yes.  But  it's  more  badly  broken  than  I 
thought,"  Captain  Ben  replied.  "It  can't  be 
fixed  until  to-morrow,  so  we  shall  have  to  stay 
here  all  night.  You  don't  mind  as  long  as  your 
mother  and  the  other  two  little  Bunkers  are 
all  right,  do  you?"  he  asked  Russ. 

"Oh,  no,"  was  the  answer.    "It's  fun  here !" 

"And  there  was  a  pesky  apple  boy,  only  he 
wasn't  the  same  one  'cause  he  didn't  have  red 
hair,"  explained  Vi,  "and  there  he  is  now!" 
and  she  pointed  to  Tad,  whose  face  got  as  red 


120    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

as  the  wax  doll's  cheeks  that  Laddie  told  about 
in  his  riddle. 

"Oh,  another  youngster,"  remarked  Captain 
Ben.    "Are  you  a  stalled  autoist,  too?" 

"No  such  luck,"  replied  the  boy.  "I  have  to 
walk  when  I  travel.  And  I  wish  I  could  hurry 
and  travel  right  now  to  Avalon." 

"Avalon  on  the  coast?"  asked  Captain  Ben 
quickly. 

"Yes,"  answered  the  boy.  "Avalon  is  where 
I  want  to  get  to.  But  I  don't  see  how  I'm  going 
to." 

"Avalon  is  only  a  little  distance  from  Grand 
View,  where  I  have  my  summer  bungalow," 
went  on  the  sailor.  "If  you'd  like  to  get  there 
I  can  take  you  as  far  as  I'm  going.  And  you 
can  get  a  trolley  car  to  Avalon  from  Grand 
View." 

"Yes,  I  know  I  can,"  went  on  the  boy.  "I'd 
be  ever  so  much  obliged  if  you'd  take  me  as 
far  as  Grand  View." 

"I  guess  we  can  do  that,"  promised  the  cap- 
tain. "We'll  give  you  help  along  the  way  as 
soon  as  our  car  is  in  shape,  which  won't  be 
until  morning,  however." 

"I'll  wait  and  ride  along  with  you,  if  they'll 


OFFERING  HELP  121 

let  me  sleep  here  in  the  barn,"  said  the  boy, 
with  a  look  at  Mr.  Brown. 

"Oh,  shucks!  We  have  plenty  of  room  for 
you  in  the  house,"  said  the  farmer's  wife. 
"Stay  and  welcome!" 

"All  right,  I  will,  and  thank  you,"  the  boy 
replied. 

"And  now  you  men  folks  had  better  sit  up 
and  get  your  dinner,"  went  on  Mrs.  Brown. 
"Getting  autos  out  of  ditches  is  hungry  work." 

"Indeed  it  is !"  agreed  Captain  Ben. 

He  and  Daddy  Bunker  had  almost  finished 
their  pie,  which  was  the  last  course  of  the  meal, 
when  a  man  came  rushing  up  the  front  path. 

"Say,  whoever  owns  that  auto  that's  stuck 
in  the  ditch  had  better  hurry  back  there !"  the 
man  called.  "Something's  the  matter!  I  can 
hear  a  lot  of  yelling  around  the  bend  in  the 
road!" 

Daddy  Bunker  and  Captain  Ben  hurried 
from  the  table. 

"Goodness!  what's  going  to  happen  now?" 
said  Rose  to  Russ. 


CHAPTER   XIII 


THE    MISSING   BOY 


The  four  little  Bunkers  had  finished  their 
dinner  before  their  father  and  Captain  Ben 
had  started  to  eat.  Tad  Munson,  the  "apple 
boy,"  had  also  completed  his  meal,  and  as  the 
man  came  running  in  from  the  road,  calling 
out  that  something  was  wrong  down  where 
the  automobile  had  been  left,  Russ,  Rose,  Vi 
and  Laddie,  together  with  Tad,  started  after 
Mr.  Bunker  and  Captain  Ben. 

"What  you  s'pose  it  is?"  asked  Vi,  as  she 
pattered  along  with  her  twin  brother,  holding 
his  hand. 

"I  don't  know,"  answered  Russ,  who  was 
running  with  Rose.  "This  is  no  time  to  ask  a 
lot  of  questions,  Vi." 

"I  didn't  ask  a  lot.  I  asked  only  one,"  re- 
torted the  little  girl.    "And  I  think  you  might 

answer  that." 

122 


THE  MISSING  BOY  123 

"I  would  if  I  knew  the  answer,"  said  Russ, 
smiling  a  little ;  "but  I  don't.  We'll  run  along 
and  see  what's  happening." 

"Maybe  somebody  is  trying  to  take  the 
auto,"  suggested  Tad,  who  had  made  good 
friends  with  the  four  little  Bunkers. 

"I  guess  they  couldn't  take  Captain  Ben's 
car  unless  they  put  on  a  new  wheel  and  did  a 
lot  of  other  things,"  said  Russ.  "It  was  pretty 
badly  smashed  and  they  couldn't  have  fixed  it 
so  soon." 

"No,  I  guess  not,"  agreed  Tad.  "Anyhow, 
something's  happening." 

This  was  true  enough.  As  the  children  ran 
out  of  the  gate  and  down  the  road  after  the 
man  who  had  given  the  alarm,  their  father, 
and  Captain  Ben,  they  could  hear  through  the 
quiet,  still  country  air  a  loud  shouting  around 
the  bend  in  the  road  where  the  auto  was  in 
the  ditch,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away. 

As  the  little  Bunkers  and  the  others  hurried 
away  from  his  house  Mr.  Brown  was  heard  to 
say: 

"I  knew  it!  You  can't  tell  me  autos  are 
safe!  Something's  always  happening  to  'em! 
Give  me  a  horse  every  time !" 


124    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

A  little  later  Russ,  Rose  and  the  others  came 
within  sight  of  the  place  where  Captain  Ben's 
car  had  gone  into  the  ditch.  The  children  saw 
their  father  and  Captain  Ben  approaching  a 
crowd  of  men,  who  surrounded  the  car. 

"What'd  I  tell  you?"  cried  Tad.  "Some 
thieves  are  trying  to  take  your  auto!" 

"It  does  look  so,"  agreed  Russ,  for  certainly 
there  was  quite  a  throng  about  the  machine, 
and  all  the  men  seemed  much  excited. 

Suddenly,  however,  the  crowd  about  the 
stalled  car  parted,  and  out  from  among  them 
ran  a  mule,  who  brayed  loudly  and  kicked  up 
his  heels  as  though  he  were  having  a  good 
time. 

"Oh,  look!  Look!"  cried  Vi.  "Look  at  the 
funny  mule!" 

"He's  a  circus  mule!"  added  Laddie.  "See 
him  kick  up  his  heels !  I  could  think  of  a  funny 
riddle  about  him  if  I  had  time!" 

"What  do  you  s'pose  is  the  matter?"  asked 
Rose.  "Were  they  trying  to  make  the  mule 
do  some  tricks,  Russ?" 

"I  guess  the  mule  did  tricks  without  any 
making,"  her  brother  answered.  "Oh,  look 
at  him  kick  up  his  heels !" 


THE  MISSING  BOY  126 

Indeed  the  canal  animal  was  flying  around 
in  a  circle,  every  now  and  then  rising  up  on 
his  forefeet  and  letting  fly  with  his  hind  ones, 
and  the  men  took  good  care  to  keep  out  of  his 
way. 

Then,  with  a  loud  bray,  the  mule  started 
over  toward  the  canal  bank,  and  one  of  the 
men  followed  him,  shouting  to  the  animal  to 
stop. 

By  this  time  Russ  and  the  other  children 
had  reached  the  place  of  excitement.  They 
saw  their  father  and  Captain  Ben  laughing, 
and  then  they  knew  nothing  serious  had  hap- 
pened. 

"What  was  it?  What  made  the  mule  kick 
up  so  funny?  Was  he  a  circus  mule,  and  did 
he  run  back  to  the  circus?"  asked  Vi,  getting 
in  all  the  questions  possible  in  as  short  a  time 
as  she  could. 

"No,  he  wasn't  exactly  a  circus  mule,  but  he 
acted  like  one,"  her  father  answered.  "Did 
any  of  you  get  kicked  ?"  he  inquired  of  the  men 
around  the  automobile. 

"No;  but  I  come  pretty  near  on  to  it,"  an- 
swered one  of  them.  "He  sure  was  a  high  per- 
former." 


126    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"What  happened?"  asked  Russ  of  Captain 
Ben. 

"Yes,  tell  us,"  murmured  Rose. 

"As  nearly  as  I  can  find  out,"  said  Captain 
Ben,  "when  your  father  and  I  went  to  dinner, 
after  getting  the  auto  as  far  out  of  the  ditch 
as  we  could,  some  of  the  men  from  the  canal 
decided  they  would  hitch  one  of  their  mules  to 
the  car  and  see  if  he  could  pull  it  out.  Mules 
are  very  strong,  you  know." 

"Are  they  strong  kickers,  too?"  asked 
Laddie. 

"Indeed  they  are,  very  strong,"  Captain 
Ben  answered.  "Well,  as  I  said,  while  we 
were  down  at  Mrs.  Brown's,  getting  our  din- 
ner, the  men  tried  to  hitch  the  mule  to  the  auto 
that  was  still  partly  in  the  ditch.  But  the  mule 
didn't  like  the  work,  for  he  began  to  kick  out, 
and  finally  he  broke  loose  and  did  as  he 
pleased. 

"That's  the  racket  I  heard  as  I  was  coming 
along  the  road,"  said  the  man  who  had  run  to 
Mr.  Brown's  to  give  the  alarm.  "I  heard  a 
mule  braying  and  men  shouting,  and  a  boy  told 
me  about  the  auto  accident  a  little  while  before. 
This  boy  said  the  man  who  owned  the  car  was 


THE  MISSING  BOY  127 

at  Brown's  boarding  house,  so  I  ran  there  to 
tell  you." 

"I'm  glad  you  did,"  said  Daddy  Bunker. 
"I'm  sorry  there  was  so  much  trouble,  but  I'm 
glad  no  one  was  hurt.  I  guess  we  can't  depend 
on  a  mule  for  hauling  our  car  out  of  the  ditch." 

"I  guess  not,"  said  the  canal  boat  man  who 
had  proposed  using  the  long-eared  animal. 
"General  Sherman  is  all  right,  but  he  doesn't 
like  to  pull  automobiles." 

"Who's  General  Sherman?"  asked  Russ. 

"That's  my  mule's  name,"  answered  the 
canal  boat  man. 

"You  children  had  better  run  back  to  Mr. 
Brown's  now,"  said  Daddy  Bunker  to  Russ  and 
the  others.  "We'll  see  what  we  can  do  toward 
getting  the  car  out,  though  I  don't  see  how  we 
can  travel  any  farther  to-day.  It  means  an- 
other night  on  the  road." 

"Oh,  it's  fun!    I  like  it,"  said  Rose. 

"It  will  be  all  right  if  nobody  walks  in  his 
sleep,"  added  Russ. 

"But  I  want  to  see  mother  and  Mun  Bun 
and  Margy,"  said  Vi,  in  a  sad  little  voice. 

"We'll  see  them  to-morrow,"  promised  her 
father.    "And  I  talked  to  mother  on  the  tele- 


128    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

phone,  so  I  know  she's  all  right,  and  she  knows 
we're  all  right." 

Vi  looked  more  cheerful  on  hearing  this,  and 
soon  she  and  the  others  were  ready  to  start 
back  to  Mr.  Brown's  pleasant  farmhouse. 

"Aren't  you  coming  back  with  us,  Daddy, 
and  finish  your  dinner?"  Laddie  asked  his 
father. 

"We  had  enough,"  said  Mr.  Bunker. 

"You  didn't  eat  your  pie,"  said  Laddie. 

"Well,  then,  I'll  take  two  pieces  at  supper," 
said  Mr.  Bunker,  and  he  laughed  with  Cap- 
tain Ben. 

The  rest  of  the  day  passed  quickly  for  the 
four  little  Bunkers  and  Tad  Munson,  who 
played  with  them  around  the  barn  and  the 
farmhouse.  Tad  seemed  happier,  now  that  he 
had  been  promised  a  ride  almost  to  the  town 
near  Grand  View  where  he  wanted  to  go.  But 
with  all  his  good-nature,  there  seemed  to  be 
something  strange  about  this  boy  who  had 
taken  apples  because  he  was  hungry. 

"I  have  my  own  ideas  about  that  lad,"  is 
what  Russ  heard  Mr.  Brown  saying  to  his  wife 
when  milking  time  came. 

"What  do  you  think,"  asked  Mrs.  Brown. 


THE  MISSING  BOY  129 

"I  think  he's  been  in  some  kind  of  trouble," 
went  on  the  farmer.  "Too  bad,  it  is,  for  he 
seems  like  a  nice  lad." 

Russ  wondered  what  could  be  the  matter 
with  Tad. 

Daddy  Bunker  and  Captain  Ben  came  up  the 
road  from  the  ditch  where  they  had  been  work- 
ing on  the  automobile.  They  looked  tired,  and 
they  were  very  dirty. 

"Did  you  get  it  out  of  the  ditch  ?"  asked  Russ 
of  his  father. 

"Yes,"  was  the  answer,  "it's  out  of  the  ditch. 
And  we  managed  to  get  it  to  a  garage  where 
we  hope  it  will  be  fixed  so  we  can  go  on  in 
the  morning." 

"If  we  don't  get  to  Grand  View  pretty  soon," 
said  Captain  Ben,  "I'm  afraid  the  six  little 
Bunkers  will  think  I'm  a  pretty  poor  sort  of 
a  vacation  planner.  I  haven't  given  you  a  very 
good  time  yet." 

"Oh,  we've  had  lots  of  fun !"  Rose  hastened 
to  say. 

"And  the  mule  was  awful  funny  the  way  he 
kicked  up  his  heels,"  laughed  Vi. 

"I  wish  I  could  think  of  a  riddle  about  him," 
said  Laddie. 


130    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

The  others  laughed  at  the  little  fellow,  and 
then,  when  Daddy  Bunker  and  Captain  Ben 
had  washed  off  as  much  of  the  oil  and  grease 
as  possible,  they  all  sat  down  to  supper.  Tad 
was  with  the  four  little  Bunkers. 

"Will  you  be  ready  to  ride  back  to  Grand 
View  with  us  in  the  morning  ?"  asked  Captain 
Ben  of  the  strange  boy. 

"Oh,  yes,  thank  you,"  was  the  answer.  "I 
want  to  get  to  Avalon  as  soon  as  I  can." 

After  supper  the  visitors  sat  out  on  the  broad 
porch  in  the  pleasant  shadows  of  evening.  Mr. 
Brown  was  telling  some  simple  riddles  he 
knew,  and  Laddie  was  trying  to  guess  them, 
when,  suddenly,  the  farmer  started  from  his 
chair  and  looked  down  toward  the  orchard. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  his  wife.  "Do 
you  see  that  red-haired  boy  after  our  fruit?" 

"Well,"  said  the  farmer  slowly,  "it's  a  little 
too  dark  to  see  if  he  has  red  hair  or  not,  but 
there's  somebody  down  in  my  orchard.  I'll 
go  and  take  a  look." 

"Better  be  careful,"  warned  his  wife. 

"I'm  not  afraid,"  was  the  answer,  and  he 
stepped  quietly  from  the  porch  and  walked  off 
in  the  darkness. 


THE  MISSING  BOY  131 

"Maybe  we'd  better  go  with  him,"  suggested 
Captain  Ben.  But  just  as  he  and  Daddy 
Bunker  were  starting  to  follow  the  farmer, 
Mr.  Brown  came  back. 

"I  reckon  it  was  only  some  tramps  sneaking 
around,"  he  said.  "But  I'll  turn  old  dog  Major 
loose,  and  he'll  drive  'em  off  if  they  try  to  rob 
my  hen  roost." 

Russ,  Rose  and  the  others  were  so  sleepy 
that  they  were  sent  to  bed  early  by  their  father. 
Russ  and  Rose  wondered  if  they  would  be  dis- 
turbed as  they  had  been  the  previous  night  by 
the  little  River  children. 

"You  don't  walk  in  your  sleep,  do  you?" 
asked  Russ  of  Tad,  who  was  to  have  a  little 
room  to  himself. 

"No,  I  never  did  that  I  know  of,"  he  an- 
swered. 

The  night  passed  quietly,  as  far  as  the 
Bunker  children  knew,  and  they  all  slept 
soundly.  Rose  did  wake  up  once  during  the 
night  to  get  Vi  a  drink,  and  it  was  then  that 
Rose  heard  the  distant  barking  of  a  dog.  But 
as  this  often  happened,  even  at  home,  she  did 
not  wonder  at  it,  and  she  soon  went  to  sleep 
again. 


132    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

The  sun  was  shining  brightly  when  she  and 
the  others  awoke. 

"Well,  I  didn't  hear  anybody  walk  in  his 
sleep,"  said  Russ  with  a  laugh,  as  he  came 
downstairs. 

"All  I  heard  was  a  dog  barking,"  declared 
Rose. 

"Where's  Tad?"  asked  Captain  Ben. 

No  one  seemed  to  know.  He  had  been  given 
a  room  on  the  third  floor. 

"Guess  I'd  better  go  up  and  call  him,"  said 
Captain  Ben.  "He  may  have  overslept  and  we 
want  to  get  an  early  start — that  is,  we  do  if 
the  garage  men  have  my  car  fixed.  I'll  call 
Tad." 

He  went  upstairs,  but  came  down  with  a 
queer  look  in  his  face. 

"That's  funny,"  he  said. 

"What  is?"  asked  Daddy  Bunker. 

"Tad  isn't  in  his  room,"  answered  Captain 
Ben.  "And,  what's  more,  his  bed  hasn't  been 
slept  in.    Tad  is  missing!" 


CHAPTER   XIV 

IN  THE  OLD  LOG 

Everybody,  even  the  four  little  Bunkers, 
was  surprised  to  hear  this. 

"Tad  missing!"  exclaimed  Daddy  Bunker. 
"Are  you  sure  he  hasn't  got  up  early  to  help 
with  the  chores  ?"  and  he  looked  at  Mr.  Brown, 
who  had  just  come  in  to  breakfast. 

"No,  he  wasn't  helping  me,"  was  the  an- 
swer. "He  did  help  with  the  chores  last  night. 
Said  he  was  doing  it  to  pay  for  his  dinner  and 
supper,  and  I  must  say  he  was  spry  about  it, 
too.  I'd  like  to  have  such  a  boy  around  the 
farm,  and  I  asked  him  if  he  didn't  want  to 
work  for  me.  But  he  said  he  wanted  to  get 
to  Avalon,  and  that  he  was  going  to  ride  as 
far  as  Grand  View  with  you  folks  this  morn- 
ing." 

"I  did  promise  to  take  him,"  said  Captain 

133 


134    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

Ben;  "but  he  seems  to  have  made  an  early- 
start  to  get  ahead  of  us." 

"I'm  sorry  for  the  poor  fellow,"  said  Mrs. 
Brown.  "But  if  he's  gone,  he's  gone,  and 
that's  all  there  is  to  it.  My  private  opinion  is 
that  Tad  ran  away  from  home,  and  now  he's 
anxious  to  run  back  again.  That's  what  I 
think." 

"I  think  so,  too,"  said  her  husband.  "Well, 
he  seems  able  to  take  care  of  himself,  and  I'm 
glad  he  wasn't  an  apple  thief ;  anyhow  he  only 
took  a  few  to  keep  from  starving,  and  I  didn't 
begrudge  him  those.  Now  let's  get  breakfast. 
I  suppose  you  folks  are  anxious  about  your 
auto." 

"Yes,"  said  Captain  Ben.  "Though  the 
garage  man  said  he'd  work  on  it  all  night  to 
get  it  ready  for  me  this  morning.  I'll  go  down 
directly  after  breakfast." 

The  meal  was  soon  on  the  table,  and  the 
hungry  little  Bunkers  ate  with  good  appetites. 
At  first  they  had  felt  sorry  about  Tad's  ab- 
sence, but  they  soon  forgot  about  him  in  think- 
ing of  the  fun  of  traveling  again  in  Captain 
Ben's  car. 

"And  we'll  see  mother  and  Mun  Bun  and 


IN   THE   OLD  LOG  135 

Margy  to-night,"  said  Rose,  as  she  hummed 
a  merry  song. 

"HI  be  glad!"  cried  Russ,  and  he  whistled, 
while  a  catbird  in  a  tree  outside  tried  to  imi- 
tate him.  Catbirds  are  relatives  of  the  mock- 
ing birds,  and  they  often  imitate  other  birds, 
just  as  the  mocking  birds  do. 

"You  children  stay  here  while  Captain  Ben 
and  I  go  to  the  garage  to  see  if  the  car  is 
ready,"  directed  Daddy  Bunker,  as  he  and  the 
marine  started  off. 

They  had  hardly  reached  the  front  gate 
before  Mrs.  Brown  came  running  out  on  the 
porch.  She  seemed  much  excited,  and  was 
waving  her  hands  in  the  air  as  Norah  had 
waved  hers  the  time  the  Bunker  chimney 
caught  fire. 

"Wait  a  minute !"  she  called  to  Captain  Ben 
and  Mr.  Bunker. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  the  children's 
father.     "Have  you  found  the  missing  Tad?" 

"No.  But  some  of  my  things  are  missing, 
too!"  exclaimed  the  farmer's  wife.  "I  left  a 
box  of  my  jewelry  on  the  table  at  the  head  of 
my  bed.  Now  it's  gone — my  box  of  jewelry 
is  gone !" 


136    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"You  don't  say  so !"  cried  her  husband,  who 
had  heard  what  his  wife  said.  "Your  box  of 
rings  gone,  and  those  ear  rings  I  gave  you! 
I  know  what  happened!  That  boy  Tad  took 
'em  and  skipped  off  in  the  night!  That's  the 
reason  he  didn't  sleep  in  his  bed.  He  took  my 
wife's  things !" 

The  four  little  Bunkers  stared. 

"Hm,"  said  Captain  Ben  slowly.  "It  seems 
hard  to  accuse  a  boy  of  anything  like  that,  but 
it  does  look  bad  for  him.  Where  were  your 
things,  Mrs.  Brown?" 

The  farmer's  wife  showed  them  her  bed- 
room on  the  first  floor,  as  is  the  case  in  many 
old-fashioned  country  houses. 

"I  always  put  my  box  of  jewelry  on  the  table 
at  the  head  of  my  bed,"  Mrs.  Brown  explained. 
"That's  so  I  can  run  out  quickly  with  it  in  case 
of  fire." 

"And  it's  also  very  easy  for  some  one  to 
reach  in  from  the  outside  and  take  it,"  said 
Daddy  Bunker.  "Was  this  window  open  ?"  he 
asked,  pointing  to  the  one  at  the  head  of  Mrs. 
Brown's  bed. 

"Yes,"  she  answered.  "It  was  a  hot  night, 
so  I  left  the  window  open." 


IN  THE   OLD  LOG  137 

Mr.  Bunker  looked  at  the  ground  beneath 
the  window. 

"That's  how  it  happened,"  he  said.  "Some 
one  has  been  walking  around  under  the  win- 
dow. I  can  see  the  footmarks  in  the  ground, 
which  is  still  soft  from  the  rain.  Whoever  it 
was,  came  here,  reached  in  through  the  open 
window  from  outside,  and  took  the  jewelry." 

"It  must  have  been  that  boy  Tad !"  said  the 
farmer. 

"Let's  have  a  look  at  the  footprints  in  the 
dirt,"  suggested  Captain  Ben. 

All  of  them,  including  the  four  little 
Bunkers,  went  out  under  the  window.  Daddy 
Bunker  allowed  no  one  to  walk  too  near,  as  he 
said  he  wanted  to  see  how  many  footmarks 
there  were.    After  he  had  looked  he  said: 

"There  was  only  one  person  here  in  the 
night.  Whether  it  was  the  boy  Tad  or  not, 
I  can't  say.  The  footprints  aren't  very  big, 
and  might  have  been  made  by  a  boy  with  large 
feet  or  a  man  with  small  feet." 

"Tad's  feet  were  big,"  said  Rose.  "Or,  any- 
how, he  had  on  big  shoes.  He  said  they  didn't 
belong  to  him,  but  they  were  the  best  he  could 
find" 


138    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Wait  a  minute  now,  before  we  get  to  think- 
ing Tad  did  this,"  said  Captain  Ben.  "Were- 
n't there  some  tramps  around  last  night,  Mr. 
Brown?" 

"Well,  there  was  somebody  in  my  orchard," 
answered  the  farmer.  "I  reckon  they  were 
tramps." 

"Maybe  one  of  the  tramps  took  your  wife's 
box  of  jewelry  from  your  room,"  went  on  the 
marine. 

"I  never  thought  of  them!"  said  Mrs. 
Brown.  "I  don't  want  to  lose  my  nice  jewelry, 
but  I'd  rather  it  was  taken  by  tramps  than  by 
Tad.    He  seemed  to  be  a  nice  boy !" 

"Maybe  it  isn't  stolen  at  all,"  suggested 
Russ.  "Once  my  mother  thought  her  watch 
was  stolen  and  she  found  it  afterward  in  the 
bathroom." 

"Well,  I  wish  I  could  find  my  wrist  watch," 
said  Captain  Ben. 

"Was  that  taken,  too,  last  night?"  asked 
Mr.  Brown. 

"No,  I  missed  that  when  we  were  packing  to 
take  the  six  little  Bunkers  to  my  bungalow  at 
Grand  View,"  was  the  answer.  "I  guess  I'll 
never  find  my  watch.     But  it  is  possible  that 


IN   THE    OLD  LOG  139 

you  may  have  put  your  jewelry  somewhere 
else,    Mrs.  Brown.    We'd  better  look." 

But  the  farmer's  wife  was  sure  she  had 
placed  the  box  on  the  table  at  the  head  of  her 
bed  near  the  open  window,  and  a  search  all 
through  the  house  did  not  bring  it  to  light. 
So  the  jewelry  was  gone,  and  Tad  was  gone, 
and  there  was  no  sign  of  the  tramps. 

Daddy  Bunker  and  Captain  Ben  helped  in 
the  search  for  the  missing  rings  and  other 
things,  and  when  they  could  not  be  found  they 
went  down  after  the  automobile.  It  had  been 
repaired  so  it  would  go  again,  and  soon  the 
four  little  Bunkers  and  their  father  and  the 
marine  were  ready  to  travel  on  again. 

"If  you  see  anything  of  Tad  or  some  tramps, 
ask  them  if  they  have  my  jewelry,"  called  the 
farmer's  wife  to  the  little  party  as  they  started 
off. 

"We  will,"  promised  Russ. 

Once  more  they  were  on  the  way.  The 
weather  was  fine,  and  the  roads  firm  and  Cap- 
tain Ben's  automobile  was  almost  as  good  as 
before  it  had  gone  head-first  into  the  ditch  by 
the  canal. 

"I  almost  forget  how  mother  and  Mun  Bun 


140    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

and  Margy  look,"  said  Rose,  as  they  were  on 
the  last  stage  of  their  journey. 

"Yes,  though  it  is  only  two  days  since  we 
have  seen  them,  it  seems  much  longer,"  said 
her  father.  "But  we'll  all  be  together  this 
evening,  and  then  for  some  glorious  times !" 

"Hurray!"  cried  Laddie.  "I'm  going  to 
think  up  a  lot  of  new  riddles,  too !" 

They  stopped  at  a  wayside  spring  to  get  a 
drink.  The  spring  was  not  far  from  a  farm- 
house, and  as  Russ,  Rose  and  the  other  chil- 
dren were  looking  at  the  flowers  in  the  front 
yard  they  noticed  a  dog  barking  at  a  big  log 
which  lay  in  a  meadow  not  far  from  the  road. 

"Is  that  your  dog?"  asked  Russ  of  a  farm 
boy  who  came  out  to  look  at  the  automobile 
party. 

"Yes,"  was  the  answer.  "And  he's  been 
barking  around  that  log  all  morning.  I  guess 
maybe  something's  inside.  Maybe  a  ground- 
hog is  in  there." 

"Oh,  I'd  love  to  see  a  groundhog !"  exclaimed 
Rose.    "Let's  go  up  and  look !" 

"All  right,"  agreed  Russ.  "May  we?"  he 
asked  his  father,  who  was  talking  to  the  farmer 
while  Captain  Ben  was  oiling  one  of  the  springs. 


IN  THE  OLD  LOG  141 

of  the  car  where  a  squeak  had  sounded  since 
they  started. 

"Yes;  but  be  careful,"  cautioned  Mr. 
Bunker.  "It  may  be  a  skunk  instead  of  a 
groundhog  that  the  dog  is  barking  at." 

"Oh,  I  don't  believe  so,"  said  the  farm  boy. 
"Come  on!"  he  called  to  the  Bunker  children, 
and  they  approached  the  big  log  in  the  field. 

"It's  hollow,"  said  Russ,  as  they  neared  it. 

"Yes,  it's  been  there  a  good  many  years," 
the  farm  boy  said.  "Sometimes,  when  my 
sister  and  I  are  playing  hide  and  seek,  I  crawl 
in  there.  What's  the  matter,  Towser?"  he 
asked  his  dog,  who  was  barking  louder  than 
ever.    "What's  in  the  log?" 

Russ  stooped  down  and  looked  through  it. 
He  straightened  up  suddenly. 

"There  is  something  in  it,"  he  said.  "And 
it's  something  that  wears  shoes!  I  can  see 
'em!" 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE   BUNKERS   GET   TOGETHER 

v/ 

Russ  Bunker  quickly  drew  back  away  from 
the  end  of  the  log  after  he  had  stooped  down 
and  had  seen  "something  with  shoes,"  as  he 
said. 

"Maybe  it's  a  bear !"  said  Vi. 

"Pooh!  How  could  a  bear  wear  shoes?" 
asked  Laddie. 

"Well,  I  don't  care !"  exclaimed  Vi.  "I  saw 
a  bear  in  a  circus  once,  and  he  wore  roller 
skates.  And  if  a  bear  can  wear  roller  skates 
I  guess  a  bear  can  wear  shoes." 

"There  aren't  any  bears  around  here,"  said 
the  farm  boy.    "Let  me  take  a  look." 

He  stooped  down  as  Russ  had  done,  and 
looked  within  the  log  for  some  little  time,  the 
dog,  meanwhile,  leaping  around  and  barking. 

"Do  you  see  anything?"  asked  Russ. 

"Yes,  I  do,"  answered  the  farm  boy.    "I  see 

142 


THE  BUNKERS  GET  TOGETHER  143 

something  with  shoes  on,  and  I  see  two  legs 
and  I  see " 

Just  then  there  was  a  movement  inside  the 
log,  the  dog  barked  louder  than  ever,  and  then, 
from  the  other  end  of  the  fallen,  hollow  tree 
came — the  missing  boy  Tad ! 

"Oh!  Oh!  Oh !"  exclaimed  Russ,  Rose,  and 
Laddie  in  turn.  As  for  Vi,  she  had  just 
opened  her  mouth  to  ask  a  question  and  she 
was  so  surprised  that  she  forgot  what  it  was, 
and  she  had  no  time  to  cry  "Oh!"  as  did  the 
others. 

As  for  Tad,  he  brushed  off  some  of  the  dry, 
rotten  wood  that  clung  to  his  clothes,  and  then 
he  stood  looking  at  the  four  little  Bunkers,  at 
the  farm  boy,  and  at  the  dog.  The  dog  went 
up,  smelled  of  Tad's  legs,  and,  seeming  to  count 
him  as  a  friend,  stopped  barking. 

"How'd  you  get  in  there?"  asked  Russ. 

"I  crawled  in  to  rest  and  sleep,"  was  the  an- 
swer. "I'd  been  walking  nearly  all  night,  ex- 
cept I  got  a  ride  on  a  milk  wagon  part  of  the 
way." 

"What  made  you  run  away  from  Mr. 
Brown's?"  asked  Rose. 

"Oh,  I  was  in  a  hurry  to  get — I  just  wanted 


144    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

to  get  away,  and  I  didn't  want  to  wait  all  night 
till  you  folks  started  in  the  morning,"  was  the 
hesitating  answer.  "I  was  afraid  maybe  your 
auto  wouldn't  work,  and  I  was  in  a  hurry.  So 
I  started  off  by  myself." 

"Didn't  you  go  to  bed  ?"  asked  Rose. 

"No,"  answered  Tad. 

Just  then  Daddy  Bunker,  who  had  finished 
his  talk  with  the  farmer,  while  Captain  Ben 
was  oiling  the  automobile  spring,  called : 

"Come,  children!    We  must  be  moving!" 

"Look !    We  found  Tad !"  cried  Laddie. 

"In  a  hollow  log!"  added  Vi. 

Mr.  Bunker  and  Captain  Ben,  looking  up 
and  seeing  the  missing  boy,  hurried  to  the  chil- 
dren. 

"So  you  thought  you'd  rather  travel  on  by 
yourself,  did  you?"  asked  Daddy  Bunker. 

"Yes,  sir.  I  was  in  a  hurry,"  was  the  an- 
swer. "I  went  up  to  the  room  where  I  was  to 
sleep,  but  I  got  to  thinking  I  could  travel  all 
night,  on  account  of  having  so  many  good 
things  to  eat.  So  I  sneaked  out  when  nobody 
was  looking,  and  I  walked  along.  I  got  a  ride 
part  of  the  way  on  a  milk  wagon,  and  walked 
the  rest.    It  was  almost  daylight  when  I  got 


THE  BUNKERS   GET  TOGETHER  145 

here,  and  I  saw  this  hollow  log,  so  I  crawled 
in  and  went  to  sleep." 

Daddy  Bunker  walked  closer  to  the  tramp 
boy,  for  that  is  what  he  really  seemed  now. 

"Tad,"  said  the  children's  father  kindly,  "I 
am  going  to  ask  you  a  question,  but  I  don't 
want  you  to  feel  bad  about  it.  This  morning, 
when  we  awoke  and  found  you  gone,  there  was 
also  something  else  missing  from  Mr.  Brown's 
house.  It  was  his  wife's  box  of  jewelry.  Now, 
Tad " 

"I  didn't  take  it!  I  didn't  take  a  thing!" 
cried  Tad  earnestly.  "I  just  went  away  by  my- 
self because  I  was  in  a  hurry  to  get  to  Avalon, 
and  I  was  afraid  maybe  your  auto  would  break 
down.  I  didn't  take  Mrs.  Brown's  jewelry! 
I  never  even  saw  it!  I've  been  a  bad  boy  in 
some  ways,"  he  went  on,  "but  the  only  thing 
I  took  was  some  apples,  and  you  saw  me  have 
them.  And  I  wouldn't  have  taken  them  only 
I  was  so  terribly  hungry!  I  never  stole  any 
jewelry — honest  I  didn't!" 

He  looked  at  Mr.  Bunker  with  clear,  bright 
eyes,  and  tears  began  to  come  into  them. 

"Tad,  I  believe  you,"  said  Mr.  Bunker. 

"So  do  I !"  exclaimed  Captain  Ben.    "I  pre- 


146    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

sume  it  was  those  tramps,  or  one  of  them,  who 
reached  in  the  window  and  took  the  jewelry- 
box.  I'm  glad  it  was  not  you,  Tad.  And,  now 
that  we  have  found  you  and  the  auto  is  all  right 
again,  don't  you  want  to  ride  with  us  the  rest 
of  the  way  ?" 

"Yes,  thank  you,  I'd  like  to,"  was  the  an- 
swer. 

"Did  you  have  any  breakfast?"  asked  Vi. 
"We  had  some  lovely  pancakes  at  Mrs. 
Brown's." 

"No,  I  didn't  have  any,"  Tad  answered. 

"My  mother'll  give  you  something,"  offered 
the  farm  boy. 

"I  think  we  might  all  stop  for  lunch  if  your 
mother  will  sell  us  a  meal,"  said  Daddy  Bunker. 

"Yes,  she  sometimes  gets  a  meal  for  auto- 
ists,"  the  boy  answered. 

Soon  the  Bunker  children,  with  the  newly- 
found  Tad,  Daddy,  and  Captain  Ben  were  sit- 
ting down  to  a  nice  lunch. 

"We've  had  a  terrible  lot  of  adventures 
since  we  started,"  said  Rose,  as  she  took  a 
second  piece  of  cake  which  the  farmer's  wife 
offered. 

"Yes,"  agreed  Russ.     "It's  been  a  lot  of 


THE  BUNKERS  GET  TOGETHER  147 

fun — a  heap  sight  more  fun  than  going  to 
school." 

"But  you'll  have  to  go  to  school  when  we 
get  back  from  Captain  Ben's,"  said  Daddy 
Bunker. 

"That'll  be  a  long  while,  and  we'll  have  a 
lot  of  fun  before  we  go,"  laughed  Russ. 

"Did  you  think  of  any  riddles  when  you  slept 
out  in  that  log  all  night?"  asked  Laddie  of 
Tad,  when  it  was  time  to  start  again. 

"No,  I  can't  say  I  did,"  was  the  answer. 
"All  I  thought  of  was  getting  back  to — back 
to  Avalon,  and  I  wondered  where  I'd  get  my 
breakfast.  I  didn't  think  I'd  sleep  until  nearly 
noon.  Now  I've  had  my  breakfast  and  dinner 
all  in  one,"  and  he  looked  at  his  emptied  plate. 

A  little  later  the  four  little  Bunkers,  with 
Tad,  Captain  Ben  and  Daddy  were  on  the  road 
once  more.  All  went  well  and  they  arrived  at 
the  seashore  bungalow  in  Grand  View  without 
any  more  accidents. 

"Oh,  Mother,  I'm  so  glad  to  see  you !"  cried 
Rose,  as  the  car  came  to  a  stop  in  front  of 
Captain  Ben's  pretty  summer  home  not  far 
from  the  beach. 

"And  I'm  glad  to  see  you,  my  darlings!" 


148    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

cried  Mother  Bunker.  "It  seems  a  week  since 
I've  had  you.  My,  what  a  lot  of  things  must 
have  happened !" 

"They  did  — lots!"  said  Russ.  "And, 
Mother,  this  is  Tad,  and  he  lives  in  Avalon." 

"And  Mr.  Brown  thought  he  was  a  pesky 
apple  boy  but  he  wasn't,"  said  Vi.  "He  only 
took  a  few  'cause  he  was  hungry." 

"I  wants  an  apple!"  said  Mun  Bun,  as  he 
scampered  around  his  brothers  and  sisters. 

"And  I  want  two  apples!"  said  Margy. 

Mrs.  Bunker  wanted  Tad  to  stay  to  supper, 
but  he  said  he  had  some  relatives  in  Avalon, 
the  next  town,  which  could  soon  be  reached  by 
a  trolley  car.  So  he  left,  after  thanking  the 
Bunkers,  and  saying  he  would  come  over  to 
see  them  soon. 

"There's  something  queer  about  that  boy," 
said  Mr.  Bunker,  when  Tad  had  gone  to  the 
trolley  station.  "I  believe  he  has  run  away 
from  home  and  is  anxious  to  get  back." 

"Do  you  think  he  had  anything  to  do  with 
taking  the  jewelry?"  asked  his  wife. 

"No,"  was  the  answer,  "I  do  not.  I  believe 
the  tramps  took  it." 

"You  didn't  find  my  wrist  watch  in  any  of 


THE  BUNKERS  GET  TOGETHER  149 

the  things  you  unpacked,  did  you  ?"  asked  Cap- 
tain Ben  of  Mrs.  Bunker. 

"No,"  was  the  answer,  "I  did  not.  It's  too 
bad  you  had  to  lose  it." 

There  was  a  happy  time  when  all  the  Bunk- 
ers were  united  again. 

"We'll  all  be  bunked  together  to-night — the 
Bunkers  will  bunk  together,"  said  the  chil- 
dren's mother,  as  she  made  up  the  beds,  or 
"bunks,"  as  Captain  Ben  called  them.  Before 
going  to  bed  the  children  who  had  made  the 
automobile  trip  told  most  of  what  had  hap- 
pened during  their  journey  from  the  time  they 
were  caught  in  the  storm  and  were  awakened 
by  the  sleep-walking  Jack  until  they  left  Mr. 
Brown's. 

"What  kind  of  a  time  did  you  have  ?"  asked 
Daddy  Bunker  of  his  wife.  "You  didn't  lose 
Mun  Bun  or  Margy  on  the  way  down  here, 
that's  sure." 

"No,  we  hadn't  a  bit  of  trouble,"  she  said. 
"We  got  here  in  good  time,  though  of  course  I 
missed  you  and  the  children." 

So  the  Bunkers  were  put  in  their  bunks,  and 
soon  they  were  all  asleep.  It  was  some  time 
past  midnight,  as  they  learned  later,  when  Mr. 


150    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

Bunker  and  Captain  Ben  heard  a  knock  at  the 
bungalow  front  door. 

"Hello,  who's  there?"  called  the  captain, 
turning  on  the  electric  light,  for  his  bungalow 
was  almost  like  a  city  home  in  some  respects. 
"Who's  there  and  what  do  you  want?"  asked 
the  marine. 

"Maybe  it's  tramps,"  said  Laddie  to  Russ, 
with  whom  he  was  sleeping.  The  two  boys  had 
been  awakened  by  the  knock. 

"Tramps  wouldn't  knock,"  Russ  said.  "May- 
be it's  a  telegram,  or  maybe  somebody  is  lost 
and  wants  to  know  the  way." 

Russ  heard  Captain  Ben  get  up  and  go  to 
the  door. 

"Who's  there?"  asked  the  marine  again. 

"Have  you  seen  anything  of  a  boy  named 
Tad  Munson?"  was  the  question  asked.  "I 
heard  he  came  on  with  you  in  an  auto,  and  I'm 
looking  for  him.  Have  you  seen  Tad  Mun- 
son?" 


CHAPTER   XVI 


AN    UNEXPECTED    RIDE 


Mother  and  Daddy  Bunker,  who  with 
Laddie,  Russ  and  Rose,  had  also  been  awak- 
ened by  the  knock  on  the  bungalow  door, 
heard  Captain  Ben  quickly  open  the  door  when 
that  question  came. 

"Tad  Munson!"  exclaimed  the  captain. 
"He  was  with  us  this  evening.  He  stayed  here 
to  supper  and  got  on  a  trolley  car  to  go  to  some 
relatives  in  Avalon,  he  said.  Who  are  you?" 
went  on  the  captain,  and  those  who  were  lis- 
tening heard  some  one  come  into  the  bungalow 
from  outside. 

"I'm  Tao'f:  father,"  was  the  answer.  "I've 
been  looking  for  him  some  time,  and  to-night 
I  heard  he  was  seen  over  here  in  Grand  View. 
I  traced  him  to  you  folks,  but  now  you  tell  me 
he's  gone  again." 

"Yes,  he  started  for  Avalon,"  went  on  Cap- 


151 


152    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

tain  Ben,  while  Russ,  who  was  listening,  won- 
dered how  it  felt  to  be  away  from  your  home 
and  all  one's  family. 

"Well,  if  Tad  started  for  home  he  never  got 
there — at  least  he  hadn't  when  I  left,  about 
two  hours  ago,"  said  Mr.  Munson.  "Poor, 
foolish  boy !    I  feel  sorry  for  him !" 

"Did  he  run  away  from  horns  ?"  asked  Cap- 
tain Ben. 

By  this  time  Mr.  Bunker  had  got  up,  slipped 
on  a  bath  robe,  and  was  now  with  the  two 
other  men.  Russ,  Rose,  Laddie  and  their 
mother  still  listened  to  the  talk,  which  could 
plainly  be  heard.  Vi,  Mun  Bun  and  Margy 
were  sound  asleep  in  their  beds. 

"Yes,  Tad  ran  away,"  said  Mr.  Munson. 
"He  was  a  little  bad,  but  not  very,  and  I  said 
I'd  have  to  punish  him.  I  wasn't  going  to  whip 
him,  or  anything  like  that,  but  I  was  going 
to  take  his  bicycle  away  from  him  and  not  let 
him  ride  it  for  a  week.  But  he  is  a  foolish, 
quick-tempered  boy,  and  he  didn't  wait  to  see 
what  I  was  going  to  do.  He  just  rode  off  on 
his  wheel,  and  I  haven't  seen  him  nor  heard 
from  him  since." 

"But  he   started   for   home,"    said   Daddy 


AN   UNEXPECTED   RIDE  153 

Bunker.  "We  brought  him  as  far  as  here, 
and  he  said  he  could  go  the  rest  of  the  way  on 
the  trolley  car." 

"Didn't  he  have  his  bicycle?"  asked  Mr. 
Munson. 

"No,  he  was  on  foot  when  we  first  saw  him 
in  a  farmer's  apple  orchard,"  Captain  Ben  an- 
swered. 

"Then  he  must  have  sold  his  wheel  to  get 
money  to  live  on,"  remarked  Tad's  father. 
"And,  I  suppose,  after  he  started  back  home, 
and  perhaps  even  got  on  the  trolley  car,  he 
was  afraid  to  come  back  on  account  of  not 
having  his  bicycle.  So  he  must  have  run  away 
again." 

"That's  too  bad!"  exclaimed  Captain  Ben. 
"How  did  you  come  to  learn  he  had  been  with 
us?"  he  asked  Mr.  Munson. 

"Oh,  I've  been  searching  for  my  boy  ever 
since  he  ran  away,"  answered  Tad's  father. 
"I  come  over  here  to  Grand  View  every  day 
to  make  inquiries.  This  evening  I  heard  that 
my  boy  had  been  seen  in  an  automobile.  I 
made  inquiries,  and  learned  you  were  the  only 
folks  who  had  come  to  town  in  an  auto  with 
some  children,  so  I  came  here  as  soon  as  I 


154    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

could.  I'm  sorry  I  had  to  wake  you  up  in  the 
middle  of  the  night." 

"Oh,  that's  all  right,"  said  Captain  Ben. 
"I'm  sorry  about  your  boy.  If  I  had  known 
he  felt  afraid  to  go  home  alone,  I'd  have  taken 
him  over  in  my  car." 

"Maybe  he'll  come  back  in  the  morning, 
after  he  spends  another  night  alone,"  said  the 
father.  "Tad  is  a  queer  boy.  I  don't  exactly 
understand  him,  I  feel  sometimes.  Well,  if  he 
isn't  here  I  suppose  I  might  as  well  go  back 
home." 

"I'm  sorry,"  said  Captain  Ben.  "Won't  you 
stay  the  rest  of  the  night,  it's  so  late?" 

"No,  I'd  better  get  back,"  was  the  answer. 
"If  you  see  anything  of  my  boy  just  send  him 
back  home  and  say  I'll  forget  and  forgive 
everything." 

"We  will,"  promised  Daddy  Bunker.  "I 
think  he  may  be  hiding  out  around  here  some- 
where, as  we  found  him  hiding  in  the  hollow 

log." 

"Did  he  do  that?"  asked  Mr.  Munson. 

"Yes,"  answered  Mr.  Bunker,  and  he  and 
Captain  Ben  told  all  they  knew  about  the  run- 
away boy.    Then  Mr.  Munson  left,  the  three 


AN    UNEXPECTED. RIDE  155 

little  Bunkers  who  had  awakened  to  listen  to 
the  talk  went  to  sleep  again,  and  the  bungalow 
was  quiet  once  more. 

"Did  you  find  Tad?"  asked  Laddie,  as  soon 
as  he  was  up  next  morning. 

"Oh,  ho,  you  little  tykes!  So  you  were 
awake,  were  you?"  asked  their  father,  with  a 
laugh,  as  he  pulled  Vi's  hair  playfully.  "No, 
poor  Tad  doesn't  seem  to  be  around  here,  but 
I  think  he'll  be  all  right." 

"And  you  mustn't  worry  about  him  and 
spoil  your  extra  vacation  at  my  place,"  said 
Captain  Ben.  "You  came  to  Grand  View  to 
have  a  good  time,  and  I  came  to  forget  about 
the  war.  I  want  you  to  be  as  happy  as  you 
can.  Come  along,  as  soon  as  you've  had  break- 
fast, and  we'll  go  out  on  the  water." 

"Oh,  it's  just  a  lovely  place  here !"  exclaimed 
Rose,  as  she  looked  from  the  window.  "Are 
all  those  your  boats  there?"  and  she  pointed  to 
several  craft  floating  near  a  dock  that  extended 
out  into  a  small  bay. 

"Not  all  of  them,"  said  Captain  Ben.  "I 
have  a  motor  boat  and  two  rowboats.  I'm 
going  to  take  you  for  a  motor-boat  ride  this 
morning." 


156    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"That'll  be  fun!"  cried  Laddie. 

"Well,  be  ready  to  start  in  half  an  hour," 
went  on  Captain  Ben,  and  he  thrust  out  his 
arm  and  glanced  down  at  his  wrist.  "There  I 
go  again!"  he  exclaimed.  "Looking  for  my 
watch  that's  lost!  I  don't  seem  to  get  used  to 
being  without  it." 

"It  is  too  bad,"  said  Mother  Bunker.  "I  did 
hope  I  might  find  it  among  the  things  when 
I  unpacked,  but  it  wasn't  there." 

"Oh,  never  mind,"  and  Captain  Ben  laughed, 
trying  to  show  that  he  did  not  feel  bad.  "We 
won't  worry  about  it  any  more  than  we'll  worry 
about  Tad.  Thev  may  both  turn  up  together 
some  day." 

"And  maybe  we'll  find  Mrs.  Brown's 
jewelry,"  added  Russ. 

"Not  much  chance  of  that,"  remarked  his 
father.  "I  imagine  the  tramps  took  the  box 
of  rings  and  other  things,  and  Mrs.  Brown  will 
never  see  them  again." 

"Oh,  that's  too  bad!"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Bunker,  who  knew  how  Mrs.  Brown  must  feel 
at  losing  her  keepsakes. 

But,  as  Captain  Ben  had  said,  the  grown 
folks  did  not  want  the  six  little  Bunkers  to 


AN    UNEXPECTED   RIDE  157 

worry  over  matters  which  could  not  be  helped, 
and  so  spoil  their  late  vacation. 

"May  we  go  down  and  play  on  the  beach 
while  we're  waiting  for  Captain  Ben  to  take  us 
out  in  the  motor  boat?"  asked  Rose  of  her 
mother,  when  breakfast  was  finished. 

"Yes,"  was  the  answer.  "And  look  after 
Mun  Bun  and  Margy.  I  think  they'll  be  care- 
ful, but  watch  them  just  the  same." 

Rose  promised,  and  soon  the  six  little 
Bunkers  were  shouting  and  laughing  on  the 
sands  of  the  bay  which  came  up  almost  to  Cap- 
tain Ben's  bungalow  at  Grand  View.  The 
bungalow  stood  on  a  little  hill,  at  the  foot  of 
which  was  the  water.  This  water  was  the 
bay,  and,  farther  out,  was  the  big  ocean.  On 
the  bay  were  many  boats,  for  it  was  a  place 
of  shelter  during  storms.  Not  far  from  the 
bungalow  was  a  pier  that  extended  out  into 
the  water,  and  the  captain's  rowboats,  motor 
boat,  as  well  as  the  boats  belonging  to  several 
other  bungalow  and  cottage  owners,  were  tied 
near  by. 

"I  think  this  is  the  loveliest  place!"  ex- 
claimed Rose,  as  she  sat  down  on  the  sand  and 
looked  out  across  the  water. 


158    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Yes,  it's  dandy,"  replied  Russ.  "And  this 
is  the  nicest  part  of  the  year.  I'm  glad  we 
don't  have  to  go  back  to  school  right  away." 

"Can  I  make  some  sand  pies?"  asked  Mun 
Bun,  coming  up  to  Rose  with  some  shells  in 
his  hand. 

"Yes,  make  all  you  want,  but  don't  get  wet," 
Rose  warned  him. 

"I'm  going  to  make  pies,  too,"  said  Margy, 
and  soon  the  two  youngest  children  were  busy 
playing  in  the  sand. 

Russ  walked  up  and  down  the  beach  looking 
for  odd  shells,  for  he  had  started  to  make  a 
collection  of  them.  Rose  remained  on  the 
sand,  watching  some  men  who  were  working 
on  a  motor  boat.  She  saw  that  Mun  Bun  and 
Margy  were  all  right,  and  the  last  she  had 
heard  from  Laddie  and  Vi  was  when  Laddie 
was  trying  to  guess  the  answer  to  a  riddle 
about  seaweed.  It  was  a  riddle  which  Laddie 
had  made  up  himself,  and  perhaps  it  was  not 
as  easy  as  some  other  riddle  would  have  been. 

At  any  rate,  Laddie  and  Vi  were  talking 
about  this  riddle  the  last  Rose  heard  them. 
She  was  thinking  how  nice  it  was  to  be 
at  Grand  View,  and  she  was  wondering  if 


AN    UNEXPECTED    RIDE  159 

Captain  Ben  would  ever  find  his  lost  watch 
when  she  was  suddenly  startled  by  a  scream. 
That  it  came  from  one  of  the  little  Bunkers 
Rose  knew  at  once,  and  her  first  glance  was 
toward  Mun  Bun  and  Margy.  They  were  still 
playing  quietly  on  the  sand. 

Rose  next  looked  for  Laddie  and  Violet  and, 
to  her  surprise,  she  saw  them  in  a  rowboat 
some  distance  from  shore,  and  the  rowboat  was 
being  pulled  along  by  the  motor  craft  on  which 
the  men  had  been  working.  Most  unexpectedly 
Laddie  and  Vi  were  being  ridden  out  on  the 
broad  bay! 

"Oh,  come  back!  Come  back!"  cried  Rose, 
springing  to  her  feet  and  waving  her  hands  to 
her  brother  and  sister.    "Come  back  here!" 

"We  can't!  We  can't  come  back!"  cried 
Laddie,  and  then  he  and  Vi  fell  down  in  a 
huddled  heap  in  the  middle  of  the  rowboat 
which  was  being  pulled  rapidly  along  by  the 
motor  boat. 


CHAPTER    XVII 


THE    RAGGED    MEN 


Russ  Bunker,  who  had  been  walking  along 
the  shore  gathering  pretty  shells,  looked  back 
as  he  heard  Rose  scream. 

"What's  the  matter?"  shouted  Russ.  Rose 
pointed  to  the  rowboat  out  in  the  middle  of 
the  bay,  in  which  could  be  seen  Vi  and  Laddie. 
The  two  small  Bunkers  were  clinging  to  one 
another,  and  were  still  being  towed,  in  their 
boat,  by  the  motor  craft.  They  were  not  so 
very  far  from  shore,  but  far  enough  to  cause 
them  to  be  frightened,  and  also  to  frighten 
Rose  and  Russ.  As  for  Mun  Bun  and  Margy, 
they  were  too  small  to  be  really  worried, 
though  they  wondered  why  Laddie  and  Vi  had 
gone  off  in  a  boat  by  themselves,  especially  hav- 
ing a  motor  boat  pull  them  along. 

And  this  was  just  what  Rose  and  Russ  were 
also  wondering.    Russ  ran  back  to  Rose. 

160 


THE   RAGGED   MEN  161 

"What  made  them  go  off  in  a  boat  like  that  ?" 
asked  Russ. 

"I  don't  know,"  Rose  answered.  "I  thought 
they  were  all  right,  and  then,  when  I  looked 
again,  I  saw  them  there.  And  they  want  to 
come  back,  but  they  can't !" 

"Oh,  maybe  the  men  in  the  motor  boat  are 
taking  them  away !"  Russ  exclaimed,  for  there 
were  two  men  in  the  boat  that  was  towing  the 
smaller  craft.  But  these  men  did  not  seem  to 
be  paying  any  attention  to  the  two  children  in 
the  rowboat  behind  them.  The  two  men  were 
up  in  the  front  of  their  craft,  and  appeared 
to  be  working  at  the  stearing  wheel. 

"Come  back!  Come  back!"  cried  Russ, 
holding  his  hand  to  his  mouth  to  make  a  sort 
of  funnel,  or  megaphone,  as  he  had  often  seen 
the  fishermen  do,  and  also  the  cowboys  on 
Uncle  Fred's  ranch. 

Across  the  water  came  faintly  to  the  ears 
of  Rose  and  Russ  the  sobs  and  cries  of  Laddie 
and  Vi  in  the  rowboat. 

"Those  men  are  taking  'em  away!"  cried 
Rose.     "What  shall  we  do?" 

Just  then  Captain  Ben  and  Daddy  Bunker 
came  down  from  the  bungalow,  up  on  the  hill, 


162    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

to  the  beach  where  the  children  had  gone  to 
play.  At  once  the  two  men  saw  that  some- 
thing was  the  matter.  Then  they  noticed  the 
two  little  Bunkers  out  in  the  boat. 

"Who  let  them  go?"  cried  Daddy  Bunker. 

"Nobody  let  them  go,"  said  Russ.  "Those 
men  are  taking  them  away!" 

Captain  Ben  laughed  when  he  heard  this. 

"Those  men  in  the  motor  boat  are  friends 
of  mine,"  he  said.  "They  are  trying  their 
boat,  after  having  fixed  it,  and  I  guess  Laddie 
and  Vi  asked  them  for  a  ride  and  they're  get- 
ting a  tow." 

But  just  as  Captain  Ben  said  this  the  two 
men  who  had  been  in  the  front  part,  or  bow, 
of  the  motor  boat,  turned  around,  and  seemed, 
for  the  first  time,  to  become  aware  that  they 
were  towing  a  rowboat  with  two  children  in  it. 
One  man  called  to  the  other,  and  then  the  two 
of  them  walked  back  to  the  stern,  where  the 
rope  of  the  rowboat  was  fastened.  Then  the 
motor  boat  went  more  slowly. 

"I  see  how  it  is,"  said  Captain  Ben.  "When 
Mr.  Thompson  and  Mr.  Wade  were  in  their 
boat,  fixing  it,  Laddie  and  Vi  must  have  come 
up  at  the  stern,  making  no  noise.     The  chil- 


THE  RAGGED  MEN  163 

dren  fastened  their  rowboat  to  the  motor  boat 
and  were  taken  for  a  ride  before  they  knew  it. 
This  is  the  first  my  friends  knew  they  had  chil- 
dren towing  behind  them." 

This  part,  at  least,  seemed  to  be  true,  and 
those  on  shore  could  see  the  two  men  in  the 
motor  boat  lifting  Laddie  and  Vi  out  of  the 
small  craft  into  the  larger  one.  Then  the 
motor  boat  was  headed  toward  shore,  and  the 
two  little  Bunkers  were  soon  with  the  rest  of 
the  family. 

"We  gave  them  a  ride  without  knowing  it," 
said  Mr.  Thompson,  when  Laddie  and  Vi  were 
over  their  fright  at  being  carried  off,  as  they 
thought. 

"What  made  you  fasten  your  boat  to  the 
motor  boat,  and  why  did  you  get  in  the  row- 
boat  at  all?"  asked  Daddy  Bunker,  a  bit 
sternly. 

"We  just  wanted  to  sit  in  the  boat  a  minute," 
explained  Laddie.  "I  was  trying  to  think  of 
a  riddle  about  a  boat,  and  I  thought  maybe  I 
could  think  of  a  better  one  if  I  got  in  one,  and 
so  did  Vi,  and  then  we  got  a  ride  and  we  got 
scared." 

"Did  you  get  into  a  boat  and  row  out  to 


164    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

the  motor  boat?"  asked  their  father,  in  sur- 
prise. 

"I'll  tell  you  how  it  must  have  happened," 
said  Mr.  Wade.  "This  boat  tied  to  the  stern 
of  the  motor  craft  is  ours.  We  kept  it  tied  so 
we  could  row  back  and  forth  while  we  were 
fixing  our  big  boat.  We  pulled  up  our  anchor 
to  get  ready  to  take  a  trial  ride,  and  our  row- 
boat  must  have  swung  in  near  the  dock.  Then 
the  children  must  have  got  in  when  we  weren't 
looking,  and  we  started  off.  Our  engine  made 
so  much  noise  that  we  didn't  hear  their  cries 
or  the  shouts  of  the  children  on  shore,  for  both 
Mr.  Thompson  and  I  were  up  forward  fixing 
the  steering  wheel." 

"Is  that  how  it  happened?"  asked  Captain 
Ben  of  Laddie. 

"Yes,"  answered  the  little  boy.  "We  got  in 
the  little  boat  and  it  was  fast  with  a  rope  to 
the  big  boat,  and  then  we  began  to  move,  and 
I  couldn't  think  of  any  riddle  at  all." 

"Well,  you'd  better  keep  out  of  boats  unless 
your  mother  or  I  or  Captain  Ben  is  with  you," 
said  Daddy  Bunker,  and  the  children  promised. 

"Now  I'll  take  you  all  for  a  ride  in  my  motor 
boat,"  offered  Captain  Ben,  when  the  excite- 


THE  RAGGED  MEN  165 

ment  had  quieted  down.  "We'll  take  a  trip 
around  the  bay." 

Mother  Bunker  put  up  a  lunch  for  the  chil- 
dren, and  they  were  soon  in  Captain  Ben's  big 
motor  boat,  speeding  over  the  blue  waters  of 
the  bay.  Daddy  and  Mother  Bunker  also  went 
ale:. 

"Are  there  any  nice  places  to  have  picnics 
here?"  asked  Rose  of  the  captain,  as  she  sat 
near  him  at  the  steering  wheel. 

"Oh,  yes,  lots  of  places,"  he  answered. 
"There  are  some  cute  little  islands  in  the  bay, 
and  we'll  go  camping  on  one  some  day." 

"That  will  be  lovely !"  exclaimed  Rose. 

Laddie  was  so  interested  in  watching  the 
water  slip  along  at  the  side  of  the  swift  motor 
boat  that  he  forgot  about  his  riddle,  though 
Vi  did  not  forget  to  ask  questions,  and  finally 
her  mother  said: 

"Here,  take  that!" 

The  "that"  was  a  molasses  cookie,  and  in 
munching  it  Vi  forgot  about  the  questions  for 
a  time.  Or  rather,  her  mouth  was  too  full  to 
ask  any. 

The  merry  party  went  ashore  after  about  an 
hour's  ride,  the  captain  steering  the  boat  into 


166    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

a  little  cove,  and  back  from  the  sandy  shore  a 
little  way  was  a  clump  of  trees. 

"Are  we  going  to  eat  our  lunch  in  there?" 
asked  Rose. 

"Yes,"  her  mother  answered,  and  soon  they 
had  spread  out  their  picnic  lunch. 

"We'll  have  a  picnic  like  this  on  an  island 
some  day,"  promised  Captain  Ben. 

"And  shall  we  have  more  to  eat?"  asked 
Russ. 

"Why,  isn't  there  enough  here?"  his  father 
inquired,  with  a  laugh. 

"Oh,  there's  enough  for  now,"  Russ  an- 
swered. "But  if  we  go  to  an  island  we  could 
pretend  we  were  shipwrecked,  and  then  we'd 
be  hungry  and  want  a  lot  to  eat." 

While  the  captain  and  Daddy  and  Mother 
Bunker  sat  under  the  shade  of  the  trees  and 
talked,  the  four  older  Bunker  children  wan- 
dered around  the  little  grove,  after  having 
eaten  the  "snack,"  as  the  marine  had  called  it. 
Mun  Bun  and  Margy  stayed  near  their 
mother. 

Russ  was  digging  away  in  the  soft  earth, 
to  get  a  queer-looking  stone  which  he  wanted 
to  add  to  his  collection  of  shells,  and  Rose  was 


THE  RAGGED  MEN  167 

watching  some  ants  which  were  busily  at  work, 
when  suddenly  Laddie,  who  had  wandered  off 
down  a  little  path,  came  running  back,  with  Vi 
just  ahead  of  him.  Rose  at  once  saw  that 
something  was  the  matter. 

"What  is  it,  Laddie?  Did  you  see  a  snake?" 
she  asked. 

The  little  fellow,  who  was  out  of  breath, 
shook  his  head. 

"Nope!  I  didn't  see — a  snake,"  he  an- 
swered. "But  I  saw — a  lot — of  ragged  men — 
hiding  in  the  bushes,  and  Vi  saw  'em  too. 
Didn't  you,  Vi  ?    A  lot  of  ragged  men !" 

"Were  they  tramps?"  asked  Rose  quickly, 
as  she  took  hold  of  Vi's  hand. 

"I  guess  so,"  Laddie  answered.  "They  were 
terribly  ragged  men !  I'm  going  back  to  daddy 
and  mother!"  he  added. 


CHAPTER    XVIII 


MORE    THINGS    GONE 


Rose  Bunker  gave  one  look  toward  the 
thick  clump  of  trees,  through  which  wound  a 
path,  along  which  Laddie  and  Vi  had  gone  for 
a  little  distance. 

"Come  on!"  exclaimed  Rose,  taking  her 
small  brother  and  sister  by  their  hands.  "We'll 
all  go  back  to  daddy  and  mother." 

Russ,  who  was  still  looking  for  stones,  and 
any  other  curious  things  he  could  pick  up, 
glanced  toward  the  other  three  Bunkers. 

"Where  are  you  going?"  Russ  wanted  to 
know. 

"Back  home.  I  mean  back  to  daddy,  mother 
and  Captain  Ben,"  explained  Rose. 

"What  for?" 

"'Cause  I  saw  a  lot  of  ragged  men  in  the 
bushes,"  answered  Laddie.    "They  were  awful 

168 


MORE  THINGS  GONE  »0 

ragged,  and  they  had  a  fire,  and  some  of  'em 
were  asleep,  and " 

"Tramps!"  exclaimed  Russ,  and  he  started 
toward  the  path,  down  which  Laddie  had 
pointed  as  leading  to  the  place  where  he  had 
seen  the  tramps.    "I'm  going  to  look  at  'em!" 

"No,  you're  not !"  cried  Rose.  "You're  com- 
ing right  back  with  us,  Russ  Bunker,  or  I'll  tell 
father  on  you!"  and  she  spoke  in  a  low  but 
very  earnest  voice.  Russ  looked  at  her  a 
moment,  and  then  at  the  dark  clump  of  trees. 

"Yes,  I  guess  I'll  go  back  with  you,"  he  said. 
"I'll  take  you  back,  and  then  daddy  and  Cap- 
tain Ben  and  I  will  come  back  here  and  drive 
the  tramps  away." 

"Daddy  won't  let  you,"  said  Rose;  and,  in 
his  heart,  Russ  believed  his  sister  was  right. 

"Come  on!"  exclaimed  Vi.  "I  don't  want 
any  of  the  ragged  men  to  get  me." 

"Oh,  they  won't  get  you.  See !  Daddy  and 
mother  and  Captain  Ben  are  right  down  there," 
and  Rose  pointed  to  where  the  others  of  the 
picnic  party  could  be  seen  in  the  grove  on  the 
beach. 

"My!  What's  the  matter?  Did  you  see  a 
cow?"  asked  Captain  Ben,  with  a  smile,  when 


170    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

the  four  children  came  hurrying  back  from 
their  excursion. 

"I  saw  some  ragged  men !"  exclaimed  Laddie. 

"I  saw  'em  too — and  I  don't  like  'em!  They 
were  tramps !"  declared  Vi.  "And  maybe  they 
were  the  same  tramps  that  took  Mrs.  Brown's 
jewelry." 

"Oh,  I  hardly  think  so,"  said  Mrs.  Bunker. 
But  daddy  and  Captain  Ben  looked  at  each 
other,  and  then  both  men  rose  quickly  to  their 
feet. 

"Tramps,  eh?"  said  Captain  Ben  in  a  low 
voice.  "We  don't  want  any  such  around  here. 
And  I  don't  believe  the  other  cottagers  know 
it.  Let's  go  and  take  a  look,"  he  said  to  Mr. 
Bunker. 

"Can't  I  come?"  asked  Russ. 

"No,  you  stay  with  mother,"  his  father  an- 
swered. 

"There !  I  told  you  they  wouldn't  let  you !" 
exclaimed  Rose. 

"Well,  I  don't  care.  Maybe  some  tramps 
will  come  here,  and  I  can  drive  'em  away," 
declared  Russ.  "I'm  going  to  get  a  lot  of 
stones  to  throw  at  'em !" 

"You.  won't  need  to!"  laughed  his  mother. 


MORE   THINGS  GONE  171 

"No  tramps  will  come  here,  and  it  may  have 
been  only  some  fishermen  you  saw.  Fisher- 
men sometimes  wear  ragged  clothes." 

"These  weren't  fishermen,  'cause  they  didn't 
have  any  fishes,"  declared  Laddie. 

"Maybe  they  didn't  have  any  luck,  or  else 
perhaps  they  hadn't  yet  gone  fishing,"  his 
mother  answered.  "Anyhow,  we'll  leave  the 
tramps,  if  such  they  were,  to  daddy  and  Cap- 
tain Ben.  And  it  will  soon  be  time  for  us  to 
get  back  to  the  bungalow." 

"Is  there  anything  more  to  eat?"  Russ 
wanted  to  know. 

"Not  even  some  cookie  crumbs,"  said  his 
mother.  "I  threw  them  to  the  birds  and  squir- 
rels. But  when  we  go  on  the  picnic  to  the 
island  we'll  take  more  lunch  along." 

"I  hope  we  do,"  sighed  Russ,  "  'cause  I'm 
hungry  right  now." 

The  children  sat  around  their  mother  while 
daddy  and  Captain  Ben  walked  toward  the 
grove  where  Laddie  had  seen  the  tramps. 

"Do  you  suppose  they  could  be  the  same  ones 
who  took  Mrs.  Brown's  things,  Mother?"  asked 
Rose. 

"They    might    be,"    her    mother    replied. 


172    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Though  Mr.  Brown's  farm  is  some  distance 
from  here  and  I  don't  see  how  the  tramps  could 
arrive  here  so  soon." 

"They  could  if  they  had  an  auto  like  Captain 
Ben's,'"  said  Laddie. 

"Pooh !  Tramps  don't  have  autos.  Do  they, 
Mother?"  scoffed  Vi. 

"Not  very  often,  I  imagine,"  was  the  an- 
swer. "But  don't  think  about  the  ragged  men 
any  more." 

"Do  you  think  they  could  have  taken  Cap- 
tain Ben's  watch?"  persisted  Laddie. 

"No,  of  course  not!"  his  mother  quickly  re- 
plied. "Captain  Ben's  watch  was  lost  some- 
where near  our  house,  and  that's  almost  a  hun- 
dred miles  from  here.  Besides,  there  were  no 
tramps  there." 

"Well,  anyhow,  maybe  the  tramps  took  Tad 
Munson,"  suggested  Laddie,  who  seemed 
bound  to  have  the  ragged  men  up  to  some  mis- 
chief. 

"No,  poor  Tad  ran  away  by  himself,"  Mrs. 
Bunker  answered.  "I  feel  very  sorry  for  him, 
and  I  hope  he  is  safe  at  home  again  by  this 
time.  We  must  go  over  to  Avalon  some  day 
and  find  out." 


MORE  THINGS  GONE  173 

A  little  later  Captain  Ben  and  Daddy  Bunker 
came  back. 

"Did  you  catch  'em?"  asked  Russ  eagerly. 

"No,  they  had  gone.  I  guess  you  children 
scared  them  away,"  replied  the  marine. 

"Were  there  really  tramps  there?"  asked 
Mrs.  Bunker. 

"Yes,  we  found  a  place  where  they  had  made 
a  sort  of  camp,"  was  the  answer  of  her  hus- 
band. "They  had  built  a  fire  and  had  been 
cooking  something  in  empty  tomato  cans. 
Whether  they  took  alarm  as  we  approached,  or 
left  because  they  heard  the  children  talking,  I 
don't  know;  but  the  place  was  deserted." 

"I'm  glad  our  bungalow  isn't  near  here," 
said  Mrs.  Bunker. 

"Yes,  I  don't  like  tramps  myself,"  remarked 
Captain  Ben.  "I'll  tell  the  police  of  this  place, 
and  have  them  watch.  Lots  of  cottagers  and 
bungalow  owners  will  soon  be  leaving  and  clos- 
ing their  places  for  the  winter,  and  it  is  then 
that  tramps  often  break  in  and  take  things. 
The  police  must  be  told,  and  they  will  be  on  the 
watch." 

The  six  little  Bunkers,  with  their  father, 
mother,  and  Captain  Ben,  were  soon  in  the 


174    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

motor  boat  again  and  on  their  way  to  the  bun- 
galow. The  children  talked  so  much  about 
the  ragged  men,  or  the  tramps,  as  they  called 
them,  that  at  length  Mrs.  Bunker  said  very 
firmly: 

"Now,  my  dears,  please  stop!  First  you 
know  you'll  be  dreaming  about  these  poor  men, 
and  then,  perhaps,  some  of  you  will  walk  in 
your  sleep,  as  the  little  River  boy  did." 

"It  must  be  fun  to  walk  in  your  sleep!" 
laughed  Laddie. 

"You  did  it  once,  when  you  were  smaller," 
said  his  father. 

"I  did!"  cried  Laddie.  "Did  I  do  anything 
funny  ?" 

"Yes,"  went  on  Mr.  Bunker,  laughing.  "It 
was  in  the  winter,  and  mother  had  just  got  you 
a  new  pair  of  red  mittens.  You  had  played 
out  in  the  snow  with  them,  and  after  supper 
you  put  them  behind  the  stove  in  the  kitchen 
to  dry. 

"Then  you  went  to  bed,  but  later  in  the  even- 
ing, when  Norah  was  fixing  the  fire  for  the 
night,  you  came  tramping  down  the  back 
stairs.  You  frightened  Nora,  and  when  she 
asked  you  what  you  wanted  you  didn't  say  a 


MORE  THINGS  GONE  175 

word.  You  just  took  your  little  red  mittens 
and  carried  them  back  up  the  stairs  to  bed  with 
you." 

"I  did!"  exclaimed  Laddie.  "I  never  knew 
it." 

"No,  when  a  person  walks  in  his  sleep  he 
generally  doesn't  know  what  he  is  doing,"  his 
father  concluded. 

That  evening  Captain  Ben  gave  the  children 
a  box  of  marshmallow  candies,  and  they  had 
a  fire  on  the  beach  to  roast  them.  The  chil- 
dren thought  this  was  great  fun. 

The  sailor  had  cut  long  sticks  for  the  chil- 
dren. The  sticks  were  sharply  pointed  on  one 
end,  and  when  the  fire  had  burned  down,  so 
there  was  a  good  bed  of  hot,  glowing  coals, 
Mother  Bunker  said : 

"Now  each  of  you  put  a  marshmallow  on 
the  sharp  end  of  your  sticks  and  hold  it  over 
the  coals.  Be  careful  not  to  hold  them  too 
close,  and  don't  let  the  candies  catch  fire,  as 
they  sometimes  do  if  you  are  not  careful." 

"I  know  how,  'cause  I've  roasted  marsh- 
mallows  before,"  said  Rose. 

"So've  I.  And  once  my  candy  caught  fire," 
remarked  Russ. 


176    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Oh,  look  at  mine  blaze!"  suddenly  cried 
Laddie. 

"Take  it  away  from  the  fire,  and  blow  out 
the  blaze!"  Captain  Ben  called.  "Burned 
candies  aren't  good  to  eat." 

Laddie  tried  to  do  as  he  was  told,  but  he  got 
so  excited  that  his  father  had  to  blow  for  him. 
After  that  Laddie  was  more  careful.  Mother 
helped  Mun  Bun  and  Margy  to  roast  their 
marshmallows,  and  soon  they  were  all  eating 
the  dainties,  seated  on  flat  pieces  of  drift- 
wood gathered  along  the  beach. 

The  moon  rose  out  of  the  sea,  as  it  appeared, 
and  the  view  was  a  beautiful  one.  Then  Rose 
started  a  song,  and  they  all  joined  in  the 
chorus,  while  Russ  whistled — but  first,  he  had 
to  swallow  a  marshmallow  he  was  chewing. 

"Oh,  I  just  love  it  here,"  said  Rose,  when  the 
song  was  finished. 

"Yes,  Captain  Ben  was  very  good  to  ask  us 
to  his  seashore  bungalow,"  said  Daddy  Bunker. 

"Oh,  I'm  having  just  as  much  fun  out  of  it 
as  you  folks !"  declared  the  marine.  "I  wanted 
a  jolly  crowd  here  with  me  to  help  me  forget 
about  the  war." 

They  sang  more  songs,  Captain  Ben  told 


MORE  THINGS  GONE  177 

some  funny  stories,  Laddie  asked  one  or  two 
riddles,  and  I  am  afraid  to  say  just  how  many 
questions  Vi  asked,  but  it  was  a  large  number. 
Finally  Mother  Bunker  said: 

"It's  time  we  went  in,  I  think.  Mun  Bun 
and  Margy  are  almost  asleep.  Come,  Mun 
Bun,"  she  called  to  the  little  boy.  "Time  you 
were  in  by-low  land." 

"Yes,  I  want  to  go  to  bed,"  murmured  Mun 
Bun,  who  was  really  almost  asleep.  He  tried 
to  get  up  on  his  feet,  off  the  broad,  flat  board 
on  which  he  had  been  sitting  on  the  sand  while 
the  marshmallows  were  being  roasted,  but  it 
seemed  as  though  he  could  not  stand  up. 

"Come,  Mun  Bun!"  called  his  mother. 
"Come  along!" 

"I — I  can't  come!"  the  little  fellow  an- 
swered.   "I  can't  stand    on  my  legs." 

"What's  the  matter?  Is  your  foot  asleep?" 
asked  his  father.  You  know  that  sometimes 
happens  if  you  sit  with  your  legs  cramped. 

"No,  it  isn't  my  feet,  but  I  just  can't  get 
up,"  went  on  Mun  Bun.  "I  guess  I'm  sewed 
fast  to  the  board." 

"Sewed  fast  to  the  board !"  cried  his  mother. 
"What  does  the  child  mean  ?" 


178    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"I'm  fast !"  went  on  Mun  Bun,  and  when  he 
did  manage  to  stand  up  the  board,  on  which 
he  had  been  sitting,  came  up  with  him,  fast  to 
the  seat  of  his  little  trousers. 

"Oh,  it  must  be  caught  on  a  nail !"  said  Rose. 
"You've  sat  on  a  nail,  Mun  Bun !" 

"No,  I  didn't  sit  on  a  nail,"  said  the  little 
fellow.  "But  I  guess  it's  something  else.  It's 
soft  and  sticky!" 

His  mother  hurried  over  toward  him.  By 
the  light  of  the  beach  fire  she  looked  him  over. 

"Why,  Mun  Bun!"  cried  Mrs.  Bunker, 
"you've  sat  in  a  lot  of  the  marshmallow  can- 
dies, and  that's  why  the  board  is  sticking  fast 
to  you.  Look !"  She  pulled  the  piece  of  drift 
wood  loose  from  the  little  fellow's  trousers.  A 
wad  of  candy  came  with  it. 

"Well,  I  thought  it  was  something  funny," 
said  Mun  Bun,  as  the  others  laughed.  "I  put 
some  of  my  candies  on  the  board  and  then  I 
forgot  'em,  and  I  just  squashed  myself  down 
on  top  of  'em,  didn't  I  ?"  he  asked. 

"You  surely  did!"  laughed  his  father. 

However,  not  much  damage  was  done,  as 
Mun  Bun's  trousers  were  the  kind  that  could 
be  washed.     So  after  the  laughter  was  over 


MORE  THINGS  GONE  179 

and  the  fire  had  been  put  out,  so  no  embers 
would  scatter  in  the  night  and  cause  a  blaze, 
the  party  strolled  up  to  the  bungalow  and  went 
to  bed,  crawling  into  the  bunks  which  Captain 
Ben  had  built  like  those  on  a  ship. 

Laddie  rather  hoped  he  might  walk  in  his 
sleep  again,  but  he  did  not.  The  night  passed 
quietly,  but  when  Rose  and  Russ,  who  were 
the  first  of  the  children  up,  came  downstairs 
they  saw  their  father,  mother  and  Captain  Ben 
out  on  the  porch.  The  marine  was  rather  ex- 
cited. 

"I  was  afraid  something  like  this  would 
happen  after  I  heard  about  the  tramps,"  he 
said. 

"What  has  happened?"  asked  Russ. 

"A  number  of  things  have  been  taken  from 
Captain  Ben's  dock,"  explained  Daddy  Bunker. 
"There  have  been  thieves  here  in  the  night,  and 
a  lot  of  things  are  gone." 

"Most  of  all  I  miss  my  boat,"  said  the 
marine.    "They  took  that,  too !" 


CHAPTER   XIX 


LOTS   OF   FUN 


"Did  the  bad  tramps  take  your  motor  boat?" 
asked  Rose  quickly,  as  she  saw  visions  of  the 
many  nice  rides  she  hoped  to  have  in  the  Spray, 
as  the  captain's  splendid  boat  was  called,  fade 
away. 

"No,  they  didn't  take  the  motor  boat,"  an- 
swered the  marine.  "I  take  good  care  to  lock 
that  every  night,  and  I  fix  the  motor  so  no  one 
not  in  the  secret  can  start  it.  But  the  tramps, 
or  whoever  they  were  who  paid  us  a  midnight 
visit,  took  one  of  my  best  rowboats — one  I 
use  when  I  go  fishing." 

"Oh,  may  we  go  fishing?"  asked  Vi,  who, 
with  Laddie  and  the  two  little  ones,  had  now 
come  down.  The  thefts  of  the  midnight 
visitors  did  not  trouble  her  very  much,  it 
seemed. 

"Yes,  we'll  go  picnicking  and  fishing  and 

180 


LOTS    OF   FUN  181 

have  lots  of  fun,"  Captain  Ben  answered. 
"But  first  I  must  see  if  any  one  else  around 
here  has  missed  anything,  and  we  must  try  to 
catch  the  tramps." 

"Do  you  think  it  was  tramps?"  Laddie 
wanted  to  know. 

"Well,  I  can't  be  sure  of  the  last,"  remarked 
Captain  Ben.  "But  I'm  pretty  sure  it  was 
tramps  of  some  sort.  As  I  said,  they  gen- 
erally come  around  at  the  end  of  the  season, 
when  cottages  and  bungalows  are  being  closed. 
They  take  anything  they  can  find.  But  these 
fellows  didn't  wait  for  us  to  leave." 

Captain  Ben  had  a  talk  with  some  of  his 
neighbors,  who  also  missed  various  articles 
from  around  their  cottages  or  docks,  but  the 
captain  was  the  only  one  from  whom  a  boat 
had  been  taken. 

"I  guess  the  tramps  walked  around  the  shore 
from  their  camp  in  the  woods,"  remarked 
Daddy  Bunker.  "They  took  what  they  wanted 
here,  and  elsewhere,  and  then  they  rowed  off 
in  your  boat,  Ben." 

"I  guess  that  was  it,"  remarked  the  marine. 
"I  should  have  locked  up  the  oars,  but  I  left 
one  pair  out,  and  now  I  wish  I  hadn't.     But 


182    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

I'll  not  let  those  tramps  get  away  if  I  can  help 
it." 

"What  will  you  do?"  asked  Russ. 

"I'll  take  after  'em !"  the  captain  said.  "Now 
we  know  where  they  have  their  camp  in  the 
woods,  we  know  where  to  find  them." 

"May  I  come  and  help  you  catch  'em?" 
begged  the  oldest  of  the  six  little  Bunkers. 

"No,  indeed !"  laughed  his  father.  "Chasing 
after  tramps  isn't  the  same  as  roasting  marsh- 
mallows." 

"Well,  I'd  like  to  come,"  Russ  continued 
wistfully.  "I  could  stand  back  and  throw 
stones  at  'em,  while  you  and  Captain  Ben 
caught  'em.    Please  let  me  come!" 

But  of  course  this  could  not  be,  and  when 
the  six  little  Bunkers  had  been  taken  for  a 
walk  by  their  mother,  Mr.  Bunker,  Captain 
Ben  and  some  other  men  started  to  search  for 
the  tramps  who  had  taken  the  rowboat. 

Russ,  Rose  and  the  others  had  lots  of  fun. 
They  played  in  the  sand,  waded  in  the  water, 
and,  after  their  father  and  Captain  Ben  had 
come  back,  the  captain  said  they  might  go 
crabbing. 

"Did  you  get  the  tramps?"  asked  Russ,  as 


LOTS   OF   FUN  183 

he  saw  the  Spray  come  gliding  up  to  Captain 
Ben's  dock. 

"No,  we  couldn't  even  get  sight  of  them," 
was  the  answer.  "I  guess  they  have  gone  for 
good.  Don't  worry  about  them.  I  have  an- 
other rowboat,  though  I  am  sorry  to  lose  that 
one." 

"You're  losing  lots  of  things,"  commented 
Rose.  "First  you  lose  your  wrist  watch  and 
now  your  boat  is  gone." 

"I'd  rather  have  that  watch  back  than  three 
boats,"  the  captain  declared.  "But  now,  little 
Bunkers,  we'll  have  some  fun.  We'll  go  crab- 
bing from  the  end  of  the  pier." 

Crabs  were  plentiful  in  that  part  of  the  bay 
near  the  captain's  bungalow,  and  soon  even 
Margy  and  Mun  Bun  were  trying  to  catch  the 
creatures  which  had  such  big,  pinching  claws. 
Of  course  Mrs.  Bunker  helped  her  two  little 
children,  but  Russ  and  Rose  and  Vi  and  Laddie 
had  crabbed  before,  and  knew  all  about  that 
sport. 

Each  of  the  six  little  Bunkers  was  given  a 
string  with  a  piece  of  meat  or  a  fish  head  on 
the  end.  This  bait  was  dropped  into  the  water 
at  the  side  of  the  pier. 


184    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

Pretty  soon  the  crabs,  crawling  along  on  the 
bottom  or  swimming  half  way  toward  the  sur- 
face, saw  or  smelled  the  bait.  They  went  up 
to  it  and  grasped  it  in  their  big  claws,  holding 
fast  with  one,  while  they  picked  off  bits  of 
meat  with  the  other  large  claw. 

"Oh,  I  got  one !"  suddenly  whispered  Laddie. 
"I  got  one!" 

"Pull  up  easy!"  his  father  said.  Mr. 
Bunker  had  a  long-handled  net.  Catching 
crabs  is  not  like  catching  fish.  There  is  no 
hook  for  the  crab  to  bite  on  and  be  held  fast. 
He  only  holds  by  his  claws,  and  if  the  bait  is 
lifted  too  far  out  of  the  water  the  crab  drops 
off.  That  is  why  Daddy  Bunker  had  a  net 
ready. 

"Lift  your  string  slowly,"  said  Laddie's 
father,  and  the  little  boy  did  this.  Inch  by  inch 
the  string  came  up,  and  Laddie,  looking  down, 
could  see  the  crab  clinging  by  his  claws  to  the 
chunk  of  meat. 

"He's  a  big  blue-clawed  one!"  exclaimed 
Laddie. 

"Careful  now,"  said  Daddy  Bunker.  "Care- 
ful!" 

He  slipped  the  net  down  into  the  water, 


LOTS    OF    FUN  18* 

working  it  under  the  crab,  which  was  eating 
away  at  Laddie's  bait,  not  thinking  of  the 
danger  of  being  caught. 

Suddenly  Daddy  Bunker  swooped  with  the 
net,  dipped  it  and  raised  it  again  from  the 
water.    Something  wiggled  in  the  net. 

"Did  you  get  him?"  shouted  Laddie.  "Oh, 
did  you  get  him  ?" 

"I  did ;  and  he's  a  dandy  big  one  S"  his  father 
answered.  In  the  net  was  the  great  crab, 
clashing  his  blue  claws  together.  He  had  let 
go  of  the  meat  now,  and  was  much  surprised 
at  being  disturbed  at  his  meal  in  this  fashion. 

Laddie  lifted  the  meat  from  the  net  by  rais- 
ing the  string,  and  then  Daddy  Bunker  turned 
the  net  upside  down  over  a  basket.  Out  fell 
the  crab,  scuttling  into  a  corner  of  the  basket. 

There  he  sat,  with  his  two  claws  held  up, 
jeady  to  pinch  any  one  who  might  put  his 
fingers  too  near  him.  But  no  one  did  this. 
Some  wet  seaweed  was  put  over  the  crab,  and 
Laddie  tossed  back  into  the  water  his  bait  and 
string,  to  wait  for  another  crab.  After  that 
every  one  had  good  luck,  even  Mun  Bun  and 
Margy.  Their  mother  helped  them  pull  up 
their  crabs  off  the  bottom,  and  Daddy  Bunker 


186    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

scooped  them  into  the  net.  Russ,  Rose  and 
Violet  also  caught  a  number  of  crabs,  and 
when  the  basket  was  full  they  stopped  fishing. 

"No  use  catching  any  more  than  we  need  to 
make  salad  of,"  said  Mother  Bunker. 

"I  don't  want  any  crab  salad,"  said  Mun 
Bun,  shaking  his  head. 

"Well,  it  isn't  good  for  little  boys,  any- 
how," said  Captain  Ben.  "But  why  don't  you 
want  any?" 

"I  don't  want  to  be  pinched !"  said  Mun  Bun. 

"Oh,  he  thinks  the  crabs  are  alive,  with  their 
claws,  in  the  salad,"  laughed  Vi.  "Why,  silly, 
they  take  the  crabs  claws  off  before  they  eat 
'em,"  she  said. 

"Well,  maybe  they  might  forget  and  leave 
one  claw  on,  and  that  would  pinch  me  if  I  ate 
some,  but  I'm  not  going  to,"  and  Mun  Bun 
shook  his  head  very  decidedly. 

The  crabs  clashed  their  claws  and  frothed 
at  the  mouths  as  they  were  carried  in  a  basket 
up  to  the  bungalow  where  Mother  Bunker 
boiled  them.  Then  the  meat  was  picked  out, 
as  though  the  crabs  were  nuts,  and  a  nice  salad 
was  made. 

This  was  only  one  of  the  jolly  days,  full  of 


LOTS    OF    FUN  187 

fun,  that  the  six  little  Bunkers  enjoyed  at  Cap- 
tain Ben's.  There  seemed  to  be  something 
new  to  do  every  time  the  sun  rose.  Nothing 
more  was  heard  of  the  tramps,  though  the  con- 
stables, or  policemen,  tried  to  find  the  ragged 
men  and  get  back  the  captain's  boat. 

More  than  once  Russ  or  Rose  would  wonder 
if  that  runaway  boy,  Tad  Munson,  ever 
reached  his  home  in  Avalon.  But  there  was 
no  chance  to  find  out,  though  Mr.  Bunker  said 
he  was  going  over  some  day  and  ask. 

Though  the  days  were  shorter  now  that  fall 
was  at  hand  than  they  had  been  in  the  summer 
time,  when  the  six  little  Bunkers  were  at  Uncle 
Fred's,  there  was  still  plenty  of  time  for  fun. 
Sometimes  Captain  Ben  took  the  whole  party 
off  on  a  fishing  trip  in  his  motor  boat,  and 
again  they  would  walk  through  the  woods,  tak- 
ing their  lunches  in  boxes  and  baskets. 

Letters  came  from  Norah  and  Jerry  Simms, 
saying  that  all  was  well  at  home,  but  no  trace 
was  found  of  Captain  Ben's  watch. 

One  day  when  it  had  rained  so  hard  in  the 
morning  that  the  six  little  Bunkers  had  to  stay 
in  the  bungalow,  it  cleared  in  the  afternoon. 
Mrs.  Bunker  let  the  children  go  out  to  play, 


188    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

telling  them  not  to  get  in  any  boats  and  not  to 
go  far  away  from  the  house. 

She  was  busy  writing  letters,  and  she  was 
just  beginning  to  wonder  if  the  children  were 
all  right,  when  suddenly  Rose  came  rushing 
in,  her  eyes  shining  with  excitement. 

"Oh,  Mother !"  cried  Rose,  "Laddie's  in  and 
he  can't  get  out.  Laddie's  in  and  he  can't  get 
out,  and  he's  being  picked  to  pieces!  You'd 
better  come  quick!" 


CHAPTER   XX 


THE    FLOOD 


"Rose!  what  are  you  saying?"  cried  Mrs. 
Bunker,  jumping  up  out  of  her  chair  and  start- 
ing toward  the  door  of  the  bungalow. 

"You'd  better  come  and  get  him  out, 
Mother !  He's  in  and  he  can't  get  out  himself, 
and  he's  being  picked  all  to  pieces,  and  Mun 
Bun  and  Margy  are  crying  and — and " 

Rose  had  to  stop  just  here,  as  she  was  all  out 
of  breath. 

"What  has  happened,  Rose?"  Mrs.  Bunker, 
herself  somewhat  '  breathless,  demanded. 
"What  has  Laddie  fallen  into  ?    Where  is  he  ?" 

"He's  in — but  you'd  better  come  and  get  him 
out!  He's  got  a  stick,  but  it  isn't  much  good, 
and  he's  being  picked  and " 

"Being  picked,  Rose?  What  do  you  mean? 
Who's   picking  him,   and  where  is  Laddie?" 

189 


190    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

cried  Mrs.  Bunker.  "I  can't  go  to  him  till  you 
tell  me  where  he  is." 

"Laddie's  in  the  coop  with  the  big,  old 
rooster  that  lives  next  door,"  explained  Rose. 
"And  he's  picking  him — I  mean  the  rooster  is 
picking  Laddie,  and  he  can't  get  out — I  mean 
Laddie  can't  get  out,  and " 

But,  once  again,  Rose  had  to  stop  to  get  her 
breath,  for  she  talked  very  fast  in  her  excite- 
ment. 

"Oh,  the  rooster!"  Mrs  Bunker  hastened 
on.  She  remembered  that  Captain  Ben  had 
told  them  about  a  savage  rooster  that  was  part 
of  some  poultry  kept  by  the  man  next  door. 
The  rooster  was  ugly,  and  would  fly  at  every 
one  who  came  near  him,  and,  for  this  reason, 
he  was  usually  kept  shut  up  in  the  yard,  while 
the  other  fowls  were  allowed  to  go  outside. 
When  the  Bunkers  had  come  to  Captain  Ben's 
to  pay  a  late  summer  visit  they  had  been 
warned  about  the  rooster  and  told  not  to  go 
near  his  yard,  or  if,  by  chance,  he  ever  got  out, 
they  were  to  run  away  from  him.  For  though 
roosters  do  not  appear  to  be  savage  they  have 
strong  wings  and  sharp  spurs  and  a  beak,  and 
they  can  harm  a  small  child  greatly. 


THE  FLOOD  191 

Holding  Rose  by  the  hand,  Mrs.  Bunker  ran 
toward  the  chicken  yard  of  the  man  next  door. 
Before  she  reached  it,  she  could  hear  a  great 
commotion  there. 

A  rooster  was  crowing  and  flapping  his 
wings,  and  Mother  Bunker  could  hear  the 
voices  of  Laddie,  Mun  Bun,  Margy  and  Vio- 
let, and  Laddie  seemed  to  be  making  the  most 
noise.  Russ,  as  it  happened,  was  down  at  the 
dock  with  his  father  and  Captain  Ben,  or  he 
might  have  helped  his  little  brother. 

As  Mrs.  Bunker  turned  the  corner  and  came 
within  sight  of  the  chicken  yard  she  saw  what 
was  happening.  Inside  the  wire  fence,  which 
kept  the  savage  rooster  penned  up,  was  Laddie. 
Outside,  as  though  looking  at  some  show,  were 
Mun  Bun,  Margy  and  Vi,  and  they  were 
screaming  with  excitement,  Vi,  every  now  and 
then  saying: 

"Bang  him  with  the  stick,  Laddie!  Bang 
him  with  the  stick !" 

This,  as  his  mother  could  see,  Laddie  was 
trying  to  do.  The  small  boy  had  a  stick,  and 
with  this  he  was  hitting  at  the  rooster.  But 
the  feathered  creature  would  flap  his  wings, 
jump  up  in  the  air  out  of  Laddie's  reach  and, 


193    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  DEN'S 

coming  down,  would  try  to  hit  Laddie  with 
wings,  spurs  or  beak. 

Mrs.  Bunker  lost  no  time.  Letting  go  of 
Rose's  hand  she  rushed  into  the  chicken  yard 
through  the  high,  wire  gate.  Then,  flapping 
her  skirts  at  the  rooster,  and  crying  "Shoo! 
Shoo !"  Mrs.  Bunker  picked  her  little  boy  up  in 
her  arms,  and  before  the  surprised  fowl  could 
attack  her  she  was  safely  outside  and  the  gate 
was  closed.  The  old  rooster,  with  an  angry 
crow,  threw  himself  against  the  wire  netting, 
but  he  would  not  get  out. 

Laddie,  rather  mussed  up  and  with  a  scratch 
on  his  bare  leg  that  was  bleeding,  turned 
around  and  faced  his  enemy  as  soon  as  his 
mother  put  him  down. 

"You  bad  old  rooster  you!"  cried  Laddie. 
"If  you  were  a  baseball  I'd  knock  you  over  the 
fence !" 

"Laddie,  how  did  you  come  to  go  into  the 
rooster's  yard  ?"  asked  Mrs.  Bunker,  when  she 
saw  that  the  little  fellow  was  not  any  more 
harmed  than  a  few  scratches. 

"I  went  after  my  ball,"  Laddie  answered. 
"It  got  knocked  over  into  the  chicken  yard 
when  we  were  playing,  and  I  went  after  it." 


THE  FLOOD  193 

"I  told  him  not  to,"  said  Rose. 

"Well,  I  thought  I  could  get  in  and  get  out 
again  before  the  bad  old  rooster  saw  me," 
went  on  Laddie.  "So  I  went  in.  But  when  I 
wanted  to  come  out  after  I  got  the  ball,  the 
gate  wouldn't  open,  and  then  the  bad  old 
rooster  came  for  me,  and  I  tried  to  hit  him 
with  my  ball  stick,  and  I  threw  the  ball  at  him, 
and  I  hit  him,  I  guess,  but  he  flapped  his  wings 
and  he  flew  at  me  and — and " 

And  then  Laddie  had  to  stop  for  breath,  just 
as  Rose  had  done. 

"Dear  me !"  exclaimed  his  mother.  "It's  too 
bad,  but  of  course  you  should  not  have  gone 
into  the  chicken  yard  after  your  ball.  Mr. 
Wendell  told  you  not  to.  He  would  have  got 
your  ball  for  you.  The  rooster  is  afraid  of 
Mr.  Wendell." 

"I  won't  go  in  any  more,"  said  Laddie. 
"And  I  wish  Mr.  Wendell  would  get  my  ball 
now,  for  it's  in  there." 

"I'll  ask  him  to,"  said  Mrs.  Bunker.  "And 
now  you  had  better  come  into  the  house  and 
let  me  wash  you." 

"Oh,  o-o-oh,  look!  Laddie's  leg's  got  the 
nose  bleed!"  cried  Mun  Bun,  pointing  to  the 


194    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

red  spot  on  his  brother's  leg.  "Laddie's  leg's 
got  the  nose  bleed!" 

"Well,  I'm  glad  it  isn't  any  worse,"  said 
Mrs.  Bunker,  as  the  others  laughed  at  Mun 
Bun's  funny  remark. 

Mr.  Wendell,  who  owned  the  savage  rooster, 
came  over  later  with  Laddie's  ball,  which  he 
had  got  from  the  chicken  yard.  Mr.  Wendell 
said  he  was  sorry  for  what  had  happened,  and 
added : 

"I'm  going  to  get  rid  of  that  bird!  He's 
getting  older  and  more  saucy  every  day.  The 
best  place  for  him  is  in  a  potpie.  He  won't 
trouble  you  any  more,  Laddie."  And  the  next 
.day  the  rooster  was  sent  away. 

The  six  little  Bunkers  kept  on  having  good 
limes  at  Captain  Ben's.  They  went  out  on  the 
water  in  his  motor  boat,  and  sometimes  in  a 
•sailboat,  and  on  these  excursions  Russ,  at  least, 
"being  the  oldest,  would  look  long  and  earnestly 
across  the  waters  of  the  bay  at  Grand  View. 

"What  are  you  looking  for?"  Rose  would 
ask  him.    "Are  you  playing  pirates?" 

"No,"  Russ  would  answer.  "I'm  just  look- 
ing to  see  if  I  can  find  the  tramps  that  took 
Captain's  Ben's  rowboat." 


THE  FLOOD  195 

But  the  tramps  were  not  found,  nor  did  the 
Bunkers  learn  whether  or  not  Tad  Munson 
ever  ran  back  home  after  having  run  away. 
Mrs.  Bunker  often  said  they  must  take  a  trip 
over  to  Avalon,  to  inquire  about  the  strange 
boy,  but  something  always  seemed  to  happen 
to  put  off  the  journey.  Captain  Ben  was  al- 
ways thinking  of  so  many  things  for  the  six 
little  Bunkers  to  do  to  have  fun. 

One  afternoon  the  marine,  after  having 
taken  them  all  for  a  ride  in  his  motor  boat, 
said: 

"To-morrow,  if  it's  a  nice  day,  we'll  go  to 
that  island  I  was  telling  you  about,  and  we'll 
have  a  picnic." 

"May  we  take  our  lunch  and  stay  all  day?" 
asked  Rose,  breaking  off  a  song  she  had  started 
to  sing. 

"Yes,  it  will  be  a  regular  picnic  lunch,"  the 
captain  said.     "That  is,  if  it's  a  fair  day." 

"Do  you  think  it  will  rain?"  asked  Russ, 
who  had  taken  out  his  knife  in  order  to  make 
a  little  jumping  jack  for  Mun  Bun. 

"It  might,"  the  captain  remarked.  "I 
don't  like  the  way  the  sky  looks,"  and  he  gazed 
up  at  the  clouds  that  were  scuttling  along 


196    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

overhead.  "It's  about  time  for  the  usual  storm 
we  get  late  in  the  summer,  but  it  may  hold  off 
a  week  or  more.  Anyhow,  if  it  does  come,  we 
can  have  the  picnic  when  it  clears." 

The  six  little  Bunkers  went  to  bed  that  night 
after  having  talked  and  planned  for  the  picnic 
the  next  day.  But  alas  for  their  hopes !  The 
fears  of  Captain  Ben  proved  true,  and  in  the 
morning  it  was  raining  hard. 

"Maybe  it  will  clear,"  said  Rose,  as  she  stood 
at  the  window  with  her  nose  pressed  against 
the  glass,  giving  her  a  funny  look. 

"I  hope  it  does,"  said  Violet.  "Say,  Daddy, 
what  makes  the  rain  wet?"  she  asked. 
"Wouldn't  it  be  nice  if  the  rain  was  dry,  like 
snow,  and  then  we  could  go  out  without  um- 
brellas?   Wouldn't  it  be  nice?" 

"Snow  is  wet  when  it  melts,"  her  father 
said.  "And  if  rain  were  not  wet  it  would  do 
no  good  when  it  fell.  Don't  complain.  Have 
as  much  fun  as  you  can  here  in  the  house.  I 
don't  believe  it  is  going  to  clear  to-day." 

And  it  did  not.  It  rained  harder  and  harder, 
but  Captain  Ben  knew  how  to  provide  fun  for 
the  six  little  Bunkers  even  in  a  storm.  He 
had  many  things  of  interest  in  his  bungalow, 


THE  FLOOD  197 

and  he  knew  many  stories  which  he  told  the 
children.  Every  once  in  a  while,  though,  he 
would  go  to  the  door  and  look  out,  and  Mrs. 
Bunker  saw  that  the  captain's  face  was  grave. 

"Do  you  think  something  might  happen?" 
she  asked. 

"There's  a  great  deal  more  rain  falling  than 
I  like  to  see,"  answered  Captain  Ben. 

"Will  it  make  the  ocean  so  high  it  will  wash 
us  away?"  asked  Violet,  who  overheard  what 
was  said. 

"No,"  the  captain  answered.  "All  the  rain 
that  ever  fell  would  not  make  the  ocean  rise 
any  higher.  But  back  of  us  is  a  small  river, 
and  sometimes,  when  it  rains  too  much,  this 
river  rises  and  makes  a  flood." 

"Will  it  wash  this  bungalow  away?"  Russ 
asked. 

"Oh,  no,  nothing  like  that.  But  it  some- 
times comes  into  my  cellar,"  replied  Captain 
Ben.  "However,  I  don't  believe  it  will  this 
time.  Only  I  wish  it  would  clear  up  so  I  could 
take  my  six  little  Bunkers  to  the  island  on  a 
picnic." 

The  six  little  Bunkers  wished  this  them- 
selves, but  of  course  all  their  wishes  could  not 


198    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

stop  the  rain  from  falling,  and  it  pelted  down 
all  day. 

Rather  earlier  the  next  morning  than  he  was 
in  the  habit  of  getting  up,  Russ  Bunker  was 
awakened  by  hearing  voices  out  in  the  bun- 
galow yard  under  his  window.  He  quickly 
jumped  from  bed,  looked  out,  and  what  he  saw 
surprised  him.  It  was  still  raining  hard,  and 
the  yard  seemed  to  be  turned  into  a  small  lake 
with  chicken  coops  floating  around  in  it.  Be- 
sides the  coops,  there  were  planks  and  boards, 
and  Captain  Ben  and  other  men  were  wading 
about  with  long  rubber  boots  on,  trying  to  se- 
cure the  floating  coops  of  chickens. 

"Oh,  Mother!  Dad!"  cried  Russ  in  his 
excitement.    "Wake  up !   The  flood  has  come !" 


CHAPTER   XXI 


AN    ISLAND    PICNIC 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bunker  did  not  need  the  urg- 
ing call  of  Russ  to  awaken  them.  They  had 
already  been  up  more  than  an  hour  when  the 
little  boy  exclaimed  so  loudly  about  the  flood. 
And  it  was  as  he  had  said.  The  rain  had  filled 
the  little  river  back  of  the  bungalow,  the  river 
had  risen  and  made  a  lake  of  the  yards  and 
fields  back  of  Captain  Ben's  home. 

"What's  the  matter?"  called  Rose,  who  had 
been  sleeping  and  dreaming  of  the  island  pic- 
nic until  she  heard  Russ's  voice.  "What's 
happened?"  she  asked. 

"Come  and  see,"  answered  Russ. 

Rose  finished  dressing  and  ran  to  join  her 
brother  at  the  window,  which  looked  down  into 
the  yard.  Soon  Laddie  and  Vi  were  with  them, 
and  the  four  little  Bunkers  looked  out  on  a 
curious  scene.     The  other  two  little  Bunkers 

199 


200    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

— Mun  Bun  and  Margy — were  still  asleep  in 
their  beds,  or  bunks.  And  it  was  indeed  curi- 
ous for  Rose,  Russ,  Vi  and  Laddie  to  see  Cap- 
tain Ben  and  some  others,  including  Daddy- 
Bunker  now,  wading  about  and  pulling  the 
floating  chicken  coops  to  places  of  safety. 

"Are  the  chickens  going  for  a  ride  in  their 
coops?"  asked  Vi. 

"It  looks  so,"  Russ  answered.  "But  I  guess 
they'd  rather  not  go.  Chickens  don't  like 
water." 

"I  wish  that  old  rooster  that  flew  at  me  would 
get  soaking  wet !"  exclaimed  Laddie. 

"Anybody  that's  out  in  this  rain'll  get  wet," 
observed  Russ.    "See  it  pour!" 

It  was,  indeed,  a  very  hard  storm,  but  Cap- 
tain Ben  and  his  friends,  with  Daddy  Bunker, 
who  were  helping  to  save  the  chickens  of  the 
neighbor  next  door,  had  on  yellow  "slickers," 
or  oilskins,  as  the  fishermen  and  sailors  call 
them,  and  with  their  big  rubber  boots  they 
were  almost  as  dry  as  though  under  shelter. 

"Will  the  bungalow  float  away?"  asked  Vi, 
as  she  looked  at  the  big  pond  of  water  which 
not  only  filled  Captain  Ben's  back  yard,  but 
also  the  yards  of  his  neighbors  on  either  side. 


AN  ISLAND   PICNIC  201 

"No,  the  bungalows  will  not  float  away," 
said  Mother  Bunker,  coming  along  just  in  time 
to  hear  Vi's  question.  Mother  Bunker  thought 
perhaps  the  flood  might  frighten  the  children, 
but  they  seemed  to  think  it  rather  jolly  than 
otherwise. 

"It's  like  being  on  a  house  boat,  isn't  it?" 
said  Rose. 

"Oh,  wouldn't  that  be  fun!"  cried  Russ. 
"We  could  float  all  around  and  live  here  and 
we  wouldn't  care  how  hard  it  rained." 

"I'm  afraid  Captain  Ben  wouldn't  like  to  see 
his  bungalow  go  floating  off  in  the  flood,"  said 
Mrs.  Bunker,  with  a  smile.  "But  come  down 
to  breakfast  now,  and  then  you  may  watch  the 
men  save  the  chickens.  Poor  things !  I  guess 
they  don't  know  what  to  make  of  it." 

"May  we  go  out  and  help  save  'em  after  we 
eat?"  asked  Laddie. 

"No,  indeed!"  his  mother  told  him.  "You 
must  stay  in  while  it  rains.  But  it  may  stop 
before  the  day  is  over." 

However,  the  downpour  showed  no  signs  of 
letting  up.  It  came  down  harder  than  ever, 
and  when  they  had  finished  eating  the  chil- 
dren stood  at  the  windows  and  looked  out. 


202    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

The  water  in  the  rear  yard  was  not  quite  up 
to  the  back  steps,  but  when  Captain  Ben  and 
Daddy  Bunker  came  in,  after  having  helped 
save  the  chickens,  the  marine  said : 

"There  is  water  in  my  cellar  now.  If  it 
keeps  on  raining  there  will  be  more  in.  But 
there's  nothing  much  down  there  to  spoil." 

"Will  it  wash  the  bungalow  away?"  asked 
Vi. 

"Oh,  no !"  laughed  the  captain.  "We've  had 
floods  like  this  before,  and  we  never  had  any 
serious  trouble.  I'm  only  sorry  that  it  spoils 
our  island  picnic." 

"Well,  we  can  have  fun  here,"  said  Russ. 
"We  can  make  believe  we're  on  a  house  boat, 
and  that  we're  sailing  to  China." 

"And  can't  we  go  somewhere  to  get  some- 
thing to  eat?"  asked  Laddie.  "Maybe  they 
won't  have  anything  I  like  in  China.  They 
have  tea,  and  I  don't  like  that  very  much." 

"Yes,  we'll  make  believe  sail  to  the  North 
Pole,  and  maybe  we'll  see  Santa  Claus  and  he'll 
give  us  something  good,"  laughed  Rose,  catch- 
ing up  Margy  in  her  arms  and  dancing  about 
the  room. 

"I  want  to  see  Santa  Claus !"  cried  Margy. 


AN   ISLAND   PICNIC  303 

"And  I  want  candy !"  added  Mun  Bun. 

"Play  as  much  as  you  like,"  said  Captain 
Ben.  "It  can't  rain  forever  and  we'll  have  our 
island  picnic  as  soon  as  the  weather  clears." 

But  it  seemed  to  be  going  to  rain  all  day. 
Inch  by  inch  the  water  in  the  back  yard  crept 
nearer  the  back  steps. 

"I  guess  I'd  better  bring  up  one  of  my  row- 
boats  from  the  dock,"  said  Captain  Ben,  with 
a  laugh,  as,  after  dinner,  he  looked  out  and 
saw  the  flood  coming  still  higher.  "Mr.  Wen- 
dell will  have  to  row  around  in  a  boat  to  feed 
his  chickens,  I  believe." 

"Oh,  could  I  come?"  begged  Russ.  "It'll  be 
lots  of  fun  to  feed  chickens  from  a  rowboat." 

"We  don't  know  for  sure  that  that  is  what 
Mr.  Wendell  will  do,"  said  the  marine. 

The  children  played  about  the  bungalow  as 
best  they  could  until  nearly  supper  time,  when 
it  was  still  raining.  While  Mrs.  Bunker  was 
busy  with  the  meal,  Rose  and  Russ  went  out 
on  the  back  porch.  The  weather  was  not  cold, 
and  when  the  children  saw  how  near  the  large 
puddle  of  water  was  in  the  yard,  and  noticed 
that  it  was  not  raining  quite  so  hard  now,  they 
each  thought  of  something  at  the  same  time. 


204    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Let's  go  in  wading!"  exclaimed  Russ  and 
Rose  together. 

"We  can  put  on  our  raincoats,"  added  Russ. 

"And  take  umbrellas,"  went  on  Rose. 

Not  stopping  to  ask  their  mother  if  they 
might,  and  seeing  that  Vi  and  Laddie,  Mun 
Bun  and  Margy  were  playing  together  in  a 
distant  part  of  the  house,  Rose  and  her  brother 
got  on  their  storm  clothes,  took  off  their  shoes 
and  stockings  and  soon  were  wading  about  in 
the  shallow  part  of  the  flood-pond. 

"Isn't  it  nice  ?"  laughed  Rose,  as  she  splashed 
about. 

"Lots  of  fun,"  said  Russ.  Then,  as  he 
looked  toward  the  far  end  of  Captain  Ben's 
flooded  yard,  Russ  uttered  a  cry  of  surprise. 
"Look,  Rose !"  he  called.  "On  that  board  float- 
ing down !" 

"Oh,  it's  a  cat!"  cried  Rose. 

"And  some  kittens!"  added  Russ.  "She's 
taking  them  for  a  ride !" 

Surely  enough,  floating  down  the  flooded 
yard  on  a  board  was  a  mother  cat  and  four  kit- 
tens. But  they  did  not  seem  to  be  riding  for 
pleasure,  or  having  a  good  time.  As  the  board 
boat  slowly  turned  around  and  around,  coming 


SLOWLY  AND  CAREFULLY  RUSS  PULLED  THE  BOAT  TOWARD  HIM. 
Six  Little  Bunkers  at  Captain  Ben's  Page  206 


AN  ISLAND   PICNIC  205 

nearer  and  nearer  to  Russ  and  Rose,  the 
mother  cried  as  though  asking  the  children  to 
come  i  nd  rescue  her  and  her  little  family.  The 
little  kittens  also  cried. 

"Oh,  Russ!"  exclaimed  Rose.  "The  poor 
things !    Can't  we  get  'em  and  take  'em  in  ?" 

"I  guess  so,"  Russ  answered.  "They're 
floating  down  this  way.  If  I  had  a  long  stick 
I  could  poke  'em  nearer  to  us." 

"Here's  a  clothes  stick,"  said  Rose,  taking 
one  from  the  back  porch.  Then  she  and  Russ 
waded  farther  out  and  waited  for  the  mother 
cat  and  her  kittens  to  come  within  reach. 

Just  about  this  time  Mrs.  Bunker,  who  had 
finished  setting  the  table,  went  into  the  pantry, 
and  from  a  window  she  could  look  out  into  the 
back  yard.  She  saw  what  Russ  and  R.ose  were 
doing — wading  in  the  pond  with  their  shoes  and 
stockings  off,  Rose  under  an  umbrella  and  Russ 
in  his  rain  coat. 

"Oh,  children!  what  are  you  doing?"  called 
Mrs.  Bunker. 

"We're  trying  to  save  the  kittens !"  answered 
Russ.     "I'll  have  'em  in  a  minute." 

As  he  spoke  he  reached  out  with  the  clothes 
pole  Rose  had  handed  him,  and  he  managed  to 


206    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

touch  the  board  on  which  crouched  the  little 
family,  mother  and  kittens  all  mewing  now. 
Slowly  and  carefully  Russ  pulled  the  board 
toward  him,  and  when  it  was  almost  within  his 
reach  the  mother  cat  took  one  of  the  kittens 
up  in  her  mouth.  It  was  as  though  she  knew 
they  were  going  to  be  rescued,  and  as  though 
she  were  getting  ready  for  it. 

"Oh,  the  poor  little  dears !"  exclaimed  Rose. 
She  reached  forward  to  lift  off  the  other  three 
little  kittens,  while  Russ  dropped  the  pole  and 
got  ready  to  take  care  of  the  mother  cat.  But 
Rose  found  that  to  hold  three  kittens  she  needed 
to  let  go  of  the  umbrella,  so  she  tossed  it  on 
the  porch  back  of  her. 

Then  she  quickly  gathered  the  three  half- 
drowned  kittens  in  her  arms,  while  Russ  took 
the  mother  cat  and  one  kitten,  which  the  mother 
cat  still  held  in  her  mouth.  Then,  as  the  board 
floated  away,  the  children  carried  their  new 
pets  into  the  house. 

"Oh,  my  dears,  you're  all  wet !"  cried  Mother 
Bunker,  while  Vi  and  Laddie  and  Mun  Bun 
and  Margy  crowded  around  to  look  at  the 
rescued  animals. 

"Well,  if  we  hadn't  gone  out  in  the  rain  we 


AN  ISLAND  PICNIC  207 

wouldn't  have  seen  the  mother  cat  and  her 
little  ones,  and  maybe  they'd  be  drowned,  so 
it's  a  good  thing  we  went  in  wading,"  declared 
Russ. 

His  mother  laughed  but  said  nothing.  The 
cat  and  kittens  were  carried  near  the  warm 
stove  and  given  milk,  and  soon  they  were  pur- 
ring contentedly. 

"Something  good  came  out  of  the  flood,  any- 
how," said  Captain  Ben,  when  he  saw  the  now 
happy  little  family. 

"How  do  you  suppose  they  got  on  the 
board  ?"  asked  Russ,  as  he  rubbed  the  now  soft 
and  dry  fur  of  one  of  the  kittens. 

"I  presume  the  old  cat  had  her  family  out 
in  some  barn  or  woodshed,"  answered  the 
marine.  "When  the  water  began  to  rise  she 
crawled  with  them  up  as  high  as  she  could  to 
keep  dry.  But  the  water  kept  on  rising  and 
finally  floated  her  off  on  the  board,  as  though 
it  were  a  boat.  I  don't  know  where  they  came 
from,  but  we'll  keep  them  until  some  one  claims 
them." 

"I'm  going  to  keep  one  forever  and  take  it 
home  with  me!"  declared  Margy,  who  had  a 
black  kitten  in  her  lap. 


308    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"So'm  I!"  added  Mun  Bun,  who  was  lift- 
ing up  a  black  and  white  kitten. 

It  rained  all  that  night,  but  the  sun  shone 
and  the  storm  was  over  the  next  day.  The 
flood  did  very  little  real  damage,  aside  from 
floating  away  Mr.  Wendell's  chicken  coops  and 
filling  Captain  Ben's  cellar  with  water.  And 
almost  as  quickly  as  it  had  risen  the  small  river 
went  down  again.  The  ocean  and  bay  were 
not  changed  by  all  the  rain  that  had  fallen. 
The  tides  rose  and  fell  just  the  same. 

One  bright,  sunny  day,  shortly  after  the 
flood,  when  the  old  cat  and  her  kittens  had 
begun  to  feel  quite  at  home  in  the  bungalow, 
Captain  Ben  came  up  from  the  dock  where  he 
and  Daddy  Bunker  had  been  working  on  the 
motor  boat. 

"Now  the  Spray  is  all  ready  for  a  long  trip," 
said  the  sailor.  "We  shall  go  on  our  island 
picnic  to-morrow." 

"Oh,  what  fun!"  laughed  the  six  little 
Bunkers. 

It  was  a  glorious  day  for  a  picnic.  They 
were  all  up  early  and  the  lunches  were  packed 
in  boxes  and  baskets. 

"Are  we  going  to  take  the  mother  cat  and 


AN   ISLAND   PICNIC  209 

her  kittens?"  asked  Margy,  when  the  time 
came  for  the  start. 

"Oh,  indeed  no !"  said  Mrs.  Bunker. 

"Well,  how  are  they  going  to  get  anything 
to  eat  if  we  leave  'em  home  here  all  alone?" 
Mun  Bun  wanted  to  know. 

"I'll  put  a  saucer  of  milk  where  they  can  get 
it  for  their  dinner,  Margy,"  answered  Captain 
Ben.  "And  we'll  be  home  in  time  to  feed  them 
this  evening." 

That  satisfied  the  two  smaller  children,  and, 
after  a  last  pat  and  rub  of  the  purring  mother 
and  kittens,  Margy  and  Mun  Bun  joined  the 
others  in  the  motor  boat. 

Over  the  sparkling  waters  of  the  bay  at 
Grand  View  went  the  Spray.  The  six  little 
Bunkers  looked  toward  the  island  where  they 
were  to  spend  the  day  on  a  picnic,  and  soon 
they  reached  it. 

"Can  we  go  barefoot?"  asked  Vi,  almost  as 
soon  as  she  had  stepped  out  on  the  sandy 
beach. 

"Yes.  But  be  careful  about  stepping  on 
sharp  shells,"  her  mother  cautioned  her. 

"I'm  going  to  take  off  my  shoes,  too!"  said 
Mun  Bun,  and  soon  the  four  youngest  Bunkers 


210    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

were  wiggling  their  toes  on  the  soft,  warm 
sand. 

Then  such  fun  as  the  children  had!  They 
raced  about,  sailed  little  wooden  boats,  built 
caves  of  sand,  and  threw  stones  in  the  water. 
Russ  gathered  shells  for  his  collection,  and 
Rose  picked  flowers  for  her  dried  flower  collec- 
tion, while  Daddy  and  Mother  Bunker  and 
Captain  Ben  sat  in  the  shade  and  talked  or 
read  books  they  had  brought  along. 

Rose  and  Russ  had  wandered  off  together 
down  a  woodland  path  on  the  island,  and  Rose 
was  a  little  ahead  of  her  brother  when  he  sud- 
denly heard  her  calling. 

"Russ,  come  here!"  said  Rose  in  a  strange 
voice. 

Russ  hurried  forward. 


CHAPTER   XXII 

AFTER   THE   TRAMPS 

Russ  saw  his  sister  Rose  standing  in  a  little 
shady  group  of  trees,  looking  at  some  sight 
down  in  a  small  glen,  or  little  valley. 

"What's  the  matter,  Rose?"  asked  Russ. 

"Hush.  Not  so  loud,"  she  whispered  back, 
holding  her  hand  up  to  make  him  keep  quiet. 
"You'll  scare  'em  away  if  you're  not  careful." 

"Scare  who?"  asked  Russ. 

"The  tramps,"  Rose  answered.  "See,  there 
are  the  ragged  men  down  there.  They're  hav- 
ing a  picnic,  like  us,  I  guess." 

Russ  looked  and  saw  a  group  of  the  sort  of 
men  he  had  always  called  tramps.  They  were 
ragged  and  dirty,  and  were  seated  about  a  fire 
over  which  hung  a  steaming  kettle. 

"They're   cooking  just   like   gypsies,"    said 

Russ.    "Maybe  they  are  gypsies,  Rose." 

"No,  they're  tramps,"  went  on  the  little  girl. 
211 


212    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"And  I  guess  they  are  the  same  ones  that  took 
Captain  Ben's  rowboat  and  the  other  things  off 
the  dock.  And  maybe  they're  the  same  ones 
that  took  Mrs.  Brown's  jewelry." 

"Oh,  maybe  they  are!"  exclaimed  Russ. 
"What'llwedo?" 

"Let's  go  and  tell  daddy  and  mother  and 
Captain  Ben,"  answered  Rose.  "They'll  know 
what  to  do." 

Russ  and  Rose  turned  back  on  the  woodland 
path.  The  ragged  tramps  did  not  appear  to 
have  seen  or  heard  the  children,  and  a  little 
later  the  oldest  of  the  six  little  Bunkers  were 
excitedly  telling  the  others  on  the  island  beach 
what  they  had  seen. 

"Tramps,  eh?"  exclaimed  Captain  Ben. 
"Well,  now  I  have  a  chance  to  catch  them. 
They  can't  get  away  from  me  now,  as  the  island 
is  too  small.  Can  you  show  me  where  they 
are,  Russ  and  Rose  ?  Then  you  can  come  back 
while  your  father  and  I  round  them  up." 

"Oh,  can't  I  help  catch  'em?"  pleaded  Russ. 

"No,  indeed!"  his  father  exclaimed,  as  he 
and  Captain  Ben  got  ready  to  go  to  where  the 
ragged  men  were  cooking  some  sort  of  meal 
in  the  woods. 


AFTER   THE  TRAMPS  213 

"Wait  a  minute!"  called  Mother  Bunker. 
"If  you  two  men  are  going  tramp  hunting,  that 
means  I  shall  be  left  alone  here  with  the  chil- 
dred.  And  if  any  of  the  tramps  get  away,  and 
come  around  where  we  are " 

"That's  so!"  exclaimed  Daddy  Bunker.  "I 
didn't  think  of  that.  What  shall  we  do?"  he 
asked  Captain  Ben.  "It  will  take  two  of  us  to 
round  up  the  tramps,  and  yet " 

Just  then  the  whistle  of  a  boat  sounded  down 
near  the  beach  where  the  Bunker  party  had 
landed  in  the  Spray.  Captain  Ben  glanced 
down,  and  as  he  did  so  a  smile  and  look  of  re- 
lief came  over  his  face. 

"This  will  make  it  easy,"  he  said.  "There's 
Captain  Blake  and  some  boys  I  know.  They 
were  in  the  war  with  me.  Some  of  them  can 
stay  with  Cousin  Amy  and  the  children,  and 
the  rest  can  come  with  us  and  help  catch  the 
tramps." 

"I  wish  I'd  been  a  soldier  boy,  then  I  could 
help  catch  tramps,  too !"  exclaimed  Russ. 

"Hello,  Captain  Ben!  What  are  you  doing 
here?"  called  Captain  Blake,  who  had  brought 
a  group  of  boys  from  a  warship  to  the  island 
for  a  day's  outing. 


214    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"We're  having  a  picnic,"  replied  Captain 
Ben.  "And  you're  just  in  time,  boys !"  and  he 
greeted  the  jolly  sailor  lads. 

"Just  in  time  for  lunch,  do  you  mean?" 
asked  one  rosy-cheeked  lad,  as  he  danced 
around  on  the  sand  after  leaping  from  the 
motor  boat. 

"Yes,  I  guess  we  have  some  lunch  left,  if  the 
six  little  Bunkers  didn't  eat  it  all  up,"  went  on 
Captain  Ben. 

"Six  little  Bunkers!"  repeated  Captain 
Blake.  "That  sounds  like  a  troupe  of  circus 
performers." 

"Well,  they  can  get  up  a  circus  if  they  have 
to!"  laughed  Captain  Ben.  "But  here  they 
are,"  and  he  pointed  to  the  six  little  Bunkers, 
and  introduced  Daddy  and  Mother  Bunker  as 
well. 

"But  what  I  meant  when  I  said  you  were  just 
in  time,"  went  on  Captain  Ben,  "is  that  we've 
discovered  a  nest  of  tramps  here  on  the  island. 
I  think  they're  the  same  gang  that  took  my 
rowboat,  and  also  took  some  things  off  the 
dock.  They're  down  in  a  little  glen — two  of 
the  Bunkers  saw  them — I  want  you  boys  to 
help  me  catch  'em !" 


AFTER  THE  TRAMPS  818 

"Whoopee!  That's  what  we'll  do!  All 
aboard!"  cried  one  of  the  sailor  boys. 

"But  you  can't  all  go,"  went  on  Captain 
Ben.  "Some  of  you  must  stay  with  Mrs. 
Bunker  and  the  children  in  case  the  tramps 
scatter  and  some  of  them  run  this  way." 

"I  could  drive  'em  away,  but  they  won't  let 
me!"  complained  Russ,  who  felt  quite  indig- 
nant that  he  was  not  to  be  allowed  to  take  part 
in  the  chase. 

"I'll  tell  you  what  we'll  do,  sonny!"  said 
Captain  Blake,  with  a  smile.  "You  and  I  and 
one  of  the  sailor  boys  will  stay  here  as  a  sort 
of  home  guard.  The  others  can  go  and  catch 
the  tramps.  And  we'll  have  an  extra  piece  of 
cake,  maybe,  for  staying  at  home  instead  of 
having  the  fun  of  the  chase." 

"Yes,  you  shall  each  have  two  pieces  of 
cake,"  promised  Mrs.  Bunker. 

"And  I  want  some!"  added  Mun  Bun,  who 
was  generally  to  be  heard  from  when  there  was 
anything  like  cake  to  eat. 

So  it  was  arranged.  Captain  Ben,  Daddy 
Bunker  and  some  of  the  sailor  boys  went  off 
over  the  hill,  very  quietly,  toward  the  place 
where  Rose  and  Russ  had  seen  the  tramps 


216    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

around  their  camp  fire.  Captain  Blake  and  a 
big,  hearty,  strong  sailor  boy  remained  behind 
as  a  guard  for  Mother  Bunker  and  the  six  little 
Bunkers.  Captain  Blake  was  a  jolly  man,  and 
he  soon  had  the  children  laughing  with  his 
funny  stories. 

"Do  you  know  any  riddles?"  asked  Laddie, 
after  a  while. 

"Well,  I  might  think  of  one,"  said  the  cap- 
tain. "I'll  ask  you  this :  What  is  the  longest 
word  in  the  world  ?" 

"If  I  had  a  dictionary  here  maybe  I  could 
find  it,"  said  Russ. 

"You  don't  need  a  dictionary  for  this,"  went 
on  the  seaman.  "I  think  I'll  have  to  tell  you. 
The  longest  word  is  smiles." 

"Why,  that's  only  a  little,  short  word,"  said 
Rose,  smiling  herself. 

"But  isn't  there  a  mile  between  the  first  and 
the  last  letter?"  Captain  Blake  asked.  "You 
see,  first  there  is  a  letter  S.  Then  comes  the 
word  mile,  and  then  there's  the  last  S — a  mile 
between  the  two,  and  I  call  that  a  very  long 
word." 

"Oh,  how  funny!"  laughed  Rose.  "That's 
a  good  riddle." 


AFTER  THE   TRAMPS  217 

"And  I  know  another,"  said  Laddie.  "What 
is  it  that's  got  only  one  eye  and  carries  a  long 
train  in  it?" 

"What  is  it  that  has  only  one  eye  and  carries 
a  long  train  in  it?"  repeated  the  captain.  "Do 
you  mean  a  train  of  cars?" 

"No,  I  mean  a  long  train — like  that  on  a 
lady's  dress,"  Laddie  explained.  "It's  a 
needle!"  he  said  quickly,  before  any  one  had 
time  to  guess.  "A  needle  has  one  eye  and  when 
there  is  thread  in  the  eye  the  thread  makes  a 
long  train." 

"Ha!  Ha!  That's  pretty  good!"  laughed 
the  captain.  Then  he  told  more  stories,  and 
the  sailor  with  him  sang  some  jolly  sea  songs 
and  the  six  little  Bunkers  were  having  a  fine 
time. 

"I  wonder  if  daddy  and  Captain  Ben  are 
catching  the  tramps,"  said  Mrs.  Bunker,  after 
a  while,  when  it  seemed  as  though  it  was  time 
for  the  searching  party  to  return. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  crackling  in  the  bushes. 

"Here  comes  some  one  now,"  said  Russ. 

The  noise  in  the  bushes  grew  louder,  and 
there  was  the  sound  of  several  voices.  Cap- 
tain Blake,  who  had  been  having  fun  with  Mun 


218    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

Bun  and  Margy  on  the  grass,  rose  to  his  feet 
and  picked  up  a  stout  club.  The  other  sailor 
did  the  same,  and  they  stood  in  front  of  Mrs. 
Bunker  and  the  children,  looking  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  noise. 

Russ  moved  up  as  though  to  take  his  place 
beside  the  two  protectors,  but  his  mother  called 
to  him  to  come  back  to  her,  where  Rose  and  the 
other  little  Bunkers  were  now  gathered. 

Then  they  all  waited  to  see  who  should  come 
through  the  bushes.  Would  it  be  Daddy 
Bunker  and  Captain  Ben  returning  with  the 
tramps  they  had  caught,  or  the  ragged  men 
themselves,  scattering  and  running  away  ? 


CHAPTER    XXIII 


THE   OLD    SATCHEL 


"I  see  Captain  Ben!"  suddenly  called  Rose, 
pointing  toward  the  bushes  which  could  now 
be  seen  to  be  moving. 

"I'm  glad  of  that!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Bunker, 
and  Captain  Blake  and  his  sailor  friend  dropped 
the  clubs  they  had  taken  up. 

"Did  they  catch  any  tramps  ?"  asked  Laddie. 

"I  don't  see  any,"  replied  Russ. 

And  as  his  father  and  the  others  of  the  party 
came  into  view,  pushing  their  way  through  the 
bushes,  it  was  noticed  that  they  had  not  cap- 
tured any  of  the  ragged  men. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Captain  Blake. 
"Did  they  get  away  from  you?" 

"Yes,"  answered  Captain  Ben.  "The  rascals 
skipped  out.  They  must  have  heard  us  com- 
ing and  have  run  down  to  the  beach  on  the 

219 


220    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

other  side  of  the  island.  There  the  tramps 
piled  into  a  boat  and  went  away." 

"What  sort  of  boat?"  asked  the  seaman  who 
had  come  with  the  jolly  sailors. 

"It  was  a  motor  boat,"  answered  Daddy 
Bunker.  "But  they  had  a  rowboat  also,  towing 
behind." 

"And  I  think  it  was  the  same  rowboat  they 
took  from  me,"  went  on  Captain  Ben.  "And 
I  shouldn't  be  a  bit  surprised  if  they  had  taken 
the  motor  boat,  also." 

"Oh,  they  must  be  terribly  bad  men!"  ex- 
claimed Vi,  in  such  a  funny  voice  that  every 
one  laughed. 

"They  are  bad,"  declared  Captain  Ben. 
"That's  why  I  want  to  catch  them.  They'll  be 
hanging  around  here  all  winter  if  we  don't 
drive  them  away,  and  they'll  be  taking  things 
that  don't  belong  to  them.  Captain  Blake,  will 
you  help  me?" 

"Help  you  in  what,  Captain  Ben  ?"  asked  the 
other  captain,  while  the  six  little  Bunkers 
looked  and  listened. 

"Will  you  help  me  catch  those  tramps  ?  We 
can  take  after  them  in  our  motor  boats.  I  saw 
which  way  they  went.    I  believe  they're  head- 


THE    OLD   SATCHEL  221 

ing  for  Oyster  Cove.  We  can  round  them  up 
there.    Will  you  come  ?" 

"I  most  assuredly  will!"  exclaimed  Captain 
Blake. 

"And  we'll  come,  too!"  shouted  the  sailor 
boys. 

"Then  can't  I  come?"  asked  Russ.  "I  could 
steer  a  boat  or  throw  stones  or — something!" 

"I'm  afraid  this  will  be  no  place  for  little 
boys,"  answered  Captain  Ben.  "We  might  as 
well  hurry,"  he  added.  "I'm  sorry  to  end  our 
island  picnic,"  he  remarked  to  Mrs.  Bunker, 
"but  we  must  get  those  tramps." 

"Do  you  want  me  and  the  children  to  stay 
here  on  the  island  while  you  men  go  down  to 
Oyster  Cove  and  capture  the  tramps?"  asked 
the  mother  of  the  six  little  Bunkers.  "If  you 
do " 

"Oh,  no!  I  wouldn't  think  of  that,"  an- 
swered Captain  Ben.  "As  I  said,  I  hate  to  spoil 
the  picnic,  but  I  think  it  will  be  best  for  you  to 
take  the  children  back  to  my  bungalow.  Then 
Captain  Blake  and  I  will  go  with  the  sailors, 
catch  the  tramps,  and  take  away  the  things  the 
ragged  men  stole." 

"Perhaps    that    will    be    best,"    said    Mrs. 


222    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

Bunker.  "We  have  had  a  good  time  here,  and 
it  is  almost  time  to  go  back  home." 

There  was  so  much  excitement  going  on,  and 
such  a  prospect  of  more  that  might  happen, 
that  the  six  little  Bunkers  did  not  at  all  mind 
leaving  the  island.  They  were  always  ready 
for  something  new,  were  the  six  little  Bunkers, 
and  this  chase  after  the  ragged  tramps  was 
decidedly  something  new. 

"If  you  catch  'em  will  you  bring  'em  back 
for  us  to  see?"  asked  Vi,  as  the  two  parties 
prepared  to  leave  the  island. 

"No,  I  think  we'll  take  them  right  to  the 
lockup,"  answered  her  father.  "But  come  now, 
gather  up  everything,  and  we'll  start  back.  If 
we  let  the  tramps  get  too  far  away  it  will  be 
hard  to  catch  them  again." 

Soon  the  six  little  Bunkers  were  once  more 
in  Captain  Ben's  boat,  and  on  their  way  across 
the  bay  to  the  bungalow.  Captain  Blake  and 
his  sailor  boys  went  at  once  in  the  direction  of 
Oyster  Cove,  there  to  round  up  the  tramps  if 
possible. 

"I'll  come  and  join  you  as  soon  as  I  leave 
the  six  little  Bunkers  safe,"  Captain  Ben  called 
to  his  friend  Captain  Blake. 


THE   OLD  SATCHEL  223 

'Who'll  take  care  of  us  after  you  and  daddy- 
go  back  to  get  the  tramps  ?"  Rose  asked,  as  the 
boat  neared  the  dock. 

"There  will  be  plenty  of  neighbors  around," 
her  mother  answered. 

Word  soon  spread  through  the  little  colony 
at  Grand  View  that  the  tramps,  who  had  stolen 
many  things  during  the  late  summer,  might 
soon  be  caught,  and  several  men  joined  Cap- 
tain Ben  and  Daddy  Bunker  in  the  motor  boat 
that  was  to  go  to  Oyster  Cove. 

"But  there  will  be  no  danger  from  the 
tramps,"  remarked  Mr.  Wendell,  the  next  door 
neighbor,  whose  rooster  had  tried  to  fight 
Laddie  that  time.  "The  tramps  must  know 
they  are  being  chased,  and  they'll  get  as  far 
away  as  they  can." 

"I  hope  they  don't  get  so  far  away  that 
daddy  and  Captain  Ben  can't  catch  'em!"  ex- 
claimed Russ. 

Russ,  Rose  and  the  others  stood  on  the  pier 
and  waved  their  hands  to  Captain  Ben  and 
their  father,  who  departed  in  the  motor  boat 
Spray,  together  with  several  volunteers  who 
wanted  to  help  catch  the  tramps.  Then  the  six 
little  Bunkers  went  up  the  hill  to  the  bungalow. 


224    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

They  were  tired  after  their  outing  on  the 
island,  and  for  once  they  did  not  tease  their 
mother  to  provide  them  with  some  amusement. 

Margy  and  Mun  Bun  found  two  of  their 
dolls  and  were  satisfied  to  sit  down  and  play 
with  them  for  a  time.  Laddie  found  a  picture 
book  and  took  it  off  in  a  corner.  Vi  got  out 
her  sewing  basket  and  began  work  on  a  dress 
for  her  doll.  But  as  she  had  been  working  on 
this  same  dress  all  summer,  and  as  it  was  not 
nearly  finished  yet,  it  seemed  as  if  her  poor 
doll  would  have  to  go  out  and  buy  something 
to  wear,  Russ  said. 

Russ  had  brought  in  some  wood  for  the  fire 
his  mother  wanted  to  start  in  the  kitchen  stove 
and  Rose  was  getting  ready  to  help  set  the 
table.  When  these  tasks  were  done  Margy  and 
Mun  Bun  came  up  to  Rose  and  Russ  who  were 
sitting  down,  resting. 

"You  please  be  doctor,"  begged  Mun  Bun  of 
Russ. 

"And  you  be  nurse.  Our  babies  are  sick," 
said  Margy  to  Rose. 

"What  in  the  world  do  you  mean?"  asked 
Russ. 

"You  be  doctor  and  bring  medicine  to  the 


THE   OLD   SATCHEL  225- 

dolls  in  a  satchel,"  went  on  Margy,  pulling  at 
the  sleeve  of  Russ.  "I'll  show  you  where  the 
satchel  is.  You  put  medicine  in,  and  come  and 
be  doctor." 

"Oh,  she  wants  you  to  get  a  satchel  and  pre- 
tend you're  a  doctor  and  bring  medicine  like 
Dr.  Gage  brings  to  our  house,"  said  Rose. 
"And  they  want  me  to  be  a  nurse.  We'll  play 
with  you  a  little  while,  until  supper  is  ready, 
Margy,"  she  promised  her  little  sister. 

"And  Russ  be  doctor,"  begged  Mun  Bun. 

"Yes,  Russ'll  be  doctor,"  went  on  Rose. 
"Get  that  old  valise  we  brought  from  home 
with  us,"  she  went  on,  "and  make  believe  it  has 
a  lot  of  pills  and  medicine  in  it,  Russ.  We'll 
keep  Mun  Bun  and  Margy  quiet  while  mother 
finishes  getting  supper,"  she  whispered  to  her 
big  brother. 

"All  right,  I'll  be  the  doctor,"  promised  the 
oldest  Bunker  boy.    "Where's  the  valise?" 

Rose  showed  him  where,  put  back  in  a  hall 
closet,  was  an  old  satchel  in  which  some  odds 
and  ends  had  been  put  the  last  minute  for  the 
automobile  trip  from  home.  With  this  in  his 
hand,  and  pretending  to  be  a  doctor,  Russ 
walked  up  to  the  playhouse   Mun   Bun  and 


226    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

Margy  had  made  for  themselves  in  one  corner 
of  the  living  room. 

"Which  is  the  sick  baby?"  asked  Russ,  just 
as  Dr.  Gage  might  have  done.  He  looked  at 
the  dolls  which  Mun  Bun  and  Margy  had. 

"They're  both  sick,"  said  Margy,  "and  they 
both  want  a  lot  of  medicine." 

"Well,  I'll  give  one  some  red  pills  and  the 
other  some  green,"  said  "Dr.  Russ."  He 
dropped  his  satchel  of  make-believe  medicine 
to  the  floor  and  was  about  to  look  at  Margy's 
doll,  when  Rose  gave  a  startled  cry  and  pointed 
to  the  old  satchel. 

"Look!  Look!"  she  cried.  "See  what  was 
in  the  old  valise!" 


CHAPTER   XXIV 


TAD  S    NEWS 


Margy  almost  dropped  her  sick  doll,  she  was 
so  surprised  at  the  astonishment  in  the  voice 
of  Rose  and  at  the  manner  in  which  her  sister 
pointed  toward  the  old  valise.  Mun  Bun,  too, 
looked  at  the  leather  satchel  on  the  floor,  and 
Russ,  who  had  dropped  it,  stared  with  wide- 
opened  eyes  at  the  sight  which  met  his  gaze. 

"Look!  Look!"  went  on  Rose.  "There  it 
is!" 

"What?"  asked  Margy. 

"Captain  Ben's  watch — the  gold  wrist  watch 
he  lost  when  he  was  helping  us  pack  to  come 
here,"  went  on  Rose.  "It  just  fell  out  of  the 
old  valise  Russ  dropped. 

"Did  it?"  asked  Russ,  who  was  as  much  sur- 
prised as  was  Rose. 

"Yes,"  went  on  Rose,  "it  did.     As  soon  as 

227 


228    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

you  dropped  the  valise  that  little  pocket  on  the 
side  opened  and  the  watch  came  out.  There 
it  is!" 

And  there,  surely  enough,  was  Captain 
Ben's  missing  watch — the  one  he  thought  so 
much  of  because  it  was  given  to  him  by  a  sol- 
dier in  France. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Mother 
Bunker,  coming  in  from  the  kitchen.  She  had 
heard  the  cries  of  excitement  among  the  chil- 
dren. 

"Look  what  we  found — Captain  Ben's 
watch — it  was  in  the  old  valise — it  fell  out 
when  Russ  dropped  it — dropped  the  valise,  I 
mean,"  answered  Rose.  "He  was  playing  doc- 
tor, because  Mun  Bun's  doll  and  Margy's  were 
sick.  Oh,  Mother!  won't  Captain  Ben  be 
glad?" 

"Yes,  I  think  he  will,"  answered  Mrs. 
Bunker,  as  she  picked  the  watch  up  off  the 
floor.  The  timepiece  was  not  damaged,  and 
when  Mrs.  Bunker  had  wound  it  and  given  it 
a  little  shake,  it  ticked  off  merrily,  though  of 
course  it  had  to  be  set  to  indicate  the  proper 
hour. 

"Well,  I  never  knew  Captain  Ben's  watch 


TAD'S   NEWS  229 

was  in  that  old  valise  when  I  took  it  to  play 
doctor,"  said  Russ. 

"And  no  one  else  imagined  it  was  there," 
said  his  mother.  "The  watch  must  have  slipped 
from  Captain  Ben's  wrist  when  he  was  help- 
ing us  pack,  and  it  fell  into  the  side  pocket  of 
the  satchel.  Then  it  was  strapped  shut  and 
put  with  our  luggage.  We  never  had  occasion 
to  open  the  valise  side  pocket,  and  of  course 
we  never  thought  of  looking  in  there.  Only 
by  accident  could  it  have  been  found." 

"I'm  glad  we  found  it,"  said  Russ.  "Cap- 
tain Ben'll  be  glad,  too." 

There  was  so  much  excitement  over  finding 
the  missing  watch  that  all  thought  of  playing 
doctor,  nurse  and  sick  dolls  passed.  Vi  and 
Laddie  had  to  hear  the  story  all  over  again. 

"Then  the  tramps  didn't  take  Captain  Ben's 
watch  after  all,  did  they  ?"  asked  Vi,  when  she 
and  Laddie  had  looked  several  times  in  the 
side  pocket  of  the  valise,  whence  the  watch  had 
slid  when  Russ  dropped  the  satchel. 

"We  never  thought  tramps  had  taken  it," 
said  her  mother.  "Captain  Ben  missed  his 
watch  long  before  we  heard  about  the  tramps." 

Speaking  of  tramps  naturally  brought  the 


230    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

talk  to  the  chase  then  under  way,  and  the  chil- 
dren were  wondering  whether  their  father, 
Captain  Ben,  Captain  Blake  and  the  others 
would  be  lucky  in  the  pursuit.  It  was  just  get- 
ting dusk  when  steps  were  heard  on  the  bun- 
galow porch,  and  in  came  Daddy  Bunker  and 
Captain  Ben.  They  looked  tired  and  dis- 
couraged. 

"Did  you  catch  the  tramps?"  cried  Russ 
eagerly. 

"No/'  and  his  father  shook  his  head.  "They 
had  too  much  of  a  start  on  us." 

"And  they  got  away,"  added  Captain  Ben. 
"We  were  unlucky  to-day." 

"But  we  were  lucky  here!"  exclaimed  Rose, 
with  sparkling  eyes. 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  the  marine, 
looking  from  one  of  the  six  little  Bunkers  to 
the  other.  Something  in  their  manner  told 
him  that  the  unusual  had  happened. 

"See  if  you  can  guess!"  proposed  Laddie. 
"Make  believe  it's  a  riddle,  and  guess,  Captain 
Ben." 

"Hum!  Let  me  see!"  and  the  marine  pre- 
tended to  be  thinking  very  hard.    "Is  it " 

"It's   your   watch!"   burst   out   Mun   Bun. 


TAD'S  NEWS  231 

"We  were  playing  side  dolls,  and  Russ  was 
the  doctor  and  he  had  a  valise  and " 

"Oh,  what'd  you  tell  him  for?  Why  didn't 
you  let  him  guess?"  asked  Laddie. 

But  the  secret  was  out  now. 

"My  watch!  My  wrist  watch!  Do  you 
mean  you  found  my  watch  that  the  French 
soldier  gave  me?"  cried  Captain  Ben. 

"Yes,  here  it  is,"  and  Mrs.  Bunker  handed 
it  to  her  relative,  telling  him  how  it  had  been 
found. 

"Well,  I  never !"  exclaimed  Captain  Ben.  "I 
had  given  that  up  as  lost  forever.  I  should 
say  you  did  have  luck  here,  even  if  we  were 
not  lucky  in  catching  the  tramps." 

"So  they  got  away,  did  they?"  asked 
Mother  Bunker,  after  Captain  Ben  had  fas- 
tened his  watch  on  his  wrist. 

"Yes.  In  the  motor  boat,  which  they  must 
have  stolen,  they  were  too  speedy  for  us. 
Then,  too,  they  had  a  good  start.  But  we  have 
not  given  up.  Word  has  been  sent  to  the  police 
all  around  here  and  the  men  may  be  caught 
any  moment.  They  won't  bother  us  again, 
that's  sure." 

"I'm  glad  of  that,"  said  Mother  Bunker. 


232    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

Then  they  all  sat  down  to  supper  and  talked 
over  what  had  happened  during  the  day. 
There  was  plenty  about  which  to  talk,  from  the 
picnic  early  in  the  day,  to  the  sighting  of  the 
tramps  by  Rose,  the  chase  after  them  and  the 
finding  of  the  captain's  watch.  As  he  had 
promised,  Captain  Ben  divided  the  five  dollars 
reward  between  Rose  and  Russ. 

But  all  days  must  come  to  an  end,  and  this 
one  finally  did.  The  six  little  Bunkers  went 
up  to  bed  and  soon  were  sleeping,  tired  out 
with  the  many  adventures. 

It  was  just  after  breakfast  the  next  morn- 
ing when  Russ,  who  was  bringing  in  some 
wood  for  the  kitchen  fire,  heard  some  one  com- 
ing up  the  front  walk  and  looked  to  see  who 
it  was. 

"Why— why!"  Russ  exclaimed.  "It's  Tad 
—Tad  Munson !" 

"Yes,  that's  who  I  am,"  was  the  answer. 
"And  I've  a  lot  of  news  for  you.  Where's 
your  father  and  Captain  Ben?" 

"They're  in  the  house,"  said  Russ.  "But 
what's  the  matter?  What  news  have  you  to 
tell?" 

"You  wait  and  you'll  hear !"  promised  Tad, 


TAD'S  NEWS  233 

for  it  was,  indeed,  he.  But.  he  was  much 
changed.  He  was  clean  and  well  dressed.  In- 
stead of  old,  torn  shoes  he  had  on  nice,  shiny 
ones. 

Just  then  Captain  Ben  and  Daddy  Bunker 
came  out  on  the  porch.  They  seemed  surprised 
at  the  sight  of  the  former  runaway  boy. 

"He's  got  news  for  us,  Daddy !"  cried  Russ, 
dropping  his  armful  of  wood. 


CHAPTER   XXV 


THE    CAPTURE 


"Well,  Tad,"  said  Mr.  Bunker,  when  he 
saw  the  "runaway  boy,"  which  was  the  name 
he  was  often  called,  "it  has  been  some  time 
since  we  saw  you  last." 

"Yes,  Mr.  Bunker,  it  has,"  went  on  Tad. 
"I'm  sorry  I  caused  you  so  much  trouble." 

"Oh,  you  didn't  cause  us  so  much  trouble  as 
you  did  your  father,"  said  Captain  Ben.  "He 
came  here  one  night,  very  late,  inquiring  about 
you,  and " 

"Yes,  I  know,"  interrupted  Tad.  "And  I'm 
sorry  I  made  him  so  much  trouble.  But  it's  all 
right  now,  and  I'm  never  going  to  run  away 
again.    That's  what  I  came  over  to  tell  you." 

"Is  this  the  news  ?"  asked  Russ,  and  he  began 
to  feel  a  little  disappointed. 

"No,  it  isn't  all  the  news,"  Tad  went  on. 
"After  I  ran  away,  and  you  brought  me  part 

234 


THE  CAPTURE  235 

of  the  way  back,  I  was  going  to  take  the  trolley- 
car  to  my  home  in  Avalon,  just  as  I  said  I 
would.  But  I  got  sort  of  scared  after  I  went 
away  from  you.  I  was  afraid  to  go  home,  so 
I  didn't." 

"Oh,  so  that's  why  your  father  came  here 
looking  for  you!"  exclaimed  Daddy  Bunker. 
"We  often  wondered  if  you  ever  did  go  back 
home." 

"Yes,  I  went  a  few  days  after  that,"  Tad 
said.  "And  my  father  was  good  to  me,  and 
when  I  told  him  how  kind  you  folks  were  to 
me,  he  said  I  must  come  right  over  and  thank 
you,  and  let  you  know  I  was  safe  at  home 
again. 

"Well,  I  was  going  to,  but  I  kept  putting  it 
off.  But  at  last  my  father  and  mother  decided 
I  must  come,  so  when  I  got  some  new  clothes 
and  new  shoes  I  decided  to  come,  and  here  I 
am.    I  just  came  in  on  the  trolley  car." 

"Did  you  come  to  tell  us  about  your  new 
shoes  and  new  suit?"  Rose  asked. 

"Oh,  I  have  more  news  than  that !"  exclaimed 
Tad.  "Do  you  want  to  know  where  to  find 
those  tramps?"  he  asked  suddenly. 

"Tramps?     What  do  you  know  about  the 


236    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

tramps  ?"  asked  Captain  Ben.  "Have  they  been 
over  in  Avalon,  too,  taking  things?" 

"No,  I  don't  think  so,"  answered  Tad.  "But 
we  heard,  over  there,  about  a  gang  of  tramps 
being  chased  off  an  island  and  down  toward 
Oyster  Cove.  And  just  now,  when  I  was  get- 
ting off  the  trolley  car  down  by  the  railroad 
station,  I  saw  a  lot  of  tramps  hiding  in  the 
bushes." 

"You  did?"  cried  Daddy  Bunker.  "What 
were  they  doing  there  ?" 

"Just  hiding,"  answered  Tad.  "I  was  near 
enough  to  hear  what  they  were  saying,  and 
they  spoke  about  a  motor  boat.  That's  what 
made  me  think  maybe  they  were  the  same 
tramps  you  chased." 

"I  wouldn't  be  a  bit  surprised!"  exclaimed 
Captain  Ben.  "This  is  great  news,  Tad.  Come 
on!"  he  called  to  Daddy  Bunker.  "We'll  get 
some  policemen  and  round  up  these  fellows. 
We'll  capture  them,  and  send  them  to  jail. 
Then  maybe  I'll  get  back  my  rowboat  they 
took,  and  if  we  find  the  motor  boat  we  can  give 
that  back  to  whoever  owns  it." 

"Maybe  the  tramps  are  hiding  in  the  bushes 
to  steal  a  train  of  cars,"  suggested  Laddie. 


THE  CAPTURE  237 

"They  couldn't  carry  off  a  train  of  cars, 
that's  sure,"  said  Captain  Ben,  with  a  laugh. 
"Probably  they're  hiding  there  so  they  can  get 
aboard  a  freight  train  when  one  stops.  I  guess 
they  want  to  get  away  from  here,  and  they 
think  a  freight  train  will  take  them  away  so 
they  won't  be  captured.  But  we'll  get  after 
them.  Just  where  did  you  see  the  ragged  men, 
Tad?" 

The  former  runaway  boy  told,  and  Captain 
Ben  called  the  police  station  on  the  telephone 
and  asked  that  two  or  three  policemen  be  sent 
to  his  bungalow.  From  there  the  capture 
party  could  start  for  the  tramps'  hiding  place 
in  the  bushes  by  the  railroad. 

"I'll  go  along  with  you  and  show  you  the 
place,"  Tad  offered. 

The  policemen  soon  arrived  at  Captain  Ben's 
bungalow,  and  then  he  and  Daddy  Bunker  set 
out,  with  Tad  to  lead  the  way  to  where  the 
ragged  men  were  hiding. 

"Oh,  Mother,  can't  we  go  and  see  the  tramps 
run?"  begged  Rose. 

"Yes!"  added  Russ.  "They  won't  chase  us 
with  the  policemen  there  to  make  'em  be  good ! 
Let's  go!" 


238    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Well,  we'll  go  and  look  on  from  a  distance," 
said  Mrs.  Bunker.  So,  with  the  six  little 
Bunkers  in  charge  she  started  for  the  railroad. 

It  was  all  over  in  a  little  while.  Daddy- 
Bunker,  Captain  Ben,  and  the  police  officers 
silently  made  their  way  to  the  place  where  the 
ragged  men  were  hiding.  They  surrounded 
it,  so  the  tramps  could  not  get  away,  and  soon 
the  vagrants  were  all  captured.  They  did  not 
fight  at  all,  for  they  seemed  to  be  cowards. 

One  by  one  they  were  led  out,  pushed  into 
a  wagon  and  taken  to  jail.  Of  course  the  six 
little  Bunkers  did  not  go  near  the  jail.  But 
they  had  seen  the  tramps  caught  and  this  was 
enough  for  them.  Tad  was  warmly  thanked 
by  Captain  Ben,  Daddy  Bunker  and  others  for 
telling  where  the  troublesome  men  might  be 
caught. 

"Did  you  get  your  rowboat  ?"  asked  Russ  of 
Captain  Ben,  when  the  marine  came  "back  after 
the  tramps  were  locked  up. 

"They  didn't  exactly  have  it  with  them," 
laughed  Captain  Ben,  "but  I  made  them  tell 
me  where  it  was  hidden.  And  the  motor  boat 
is  there  also.  It  was  stolen  from  a  friend  of 
mine.    He'll  be  glad  to  get  it  back — as  glad  as 


THE  CAPTURE  239 

I  am  to  get  my  rowboat  and  my  wrist  watch — 
only,  of  course,  the  tramps  didn't  have  that. 
But  the  ragged  men  will  not  trouble  any  one 
for  a  long  time,  now." 

"Did  any  of  them  have  Mrs.  Brown's 
jewelry?"  asked  Mother  Bunker. 

"Not  as  far  as  we  could  learn,"  her  husband 
answered.  "These  tramps  said  they  were  never 
near  the  Brown  place." 

"That's  too  bad.  I'm  sorry,  I  mean,  that 
Mrs.  Brown  won't  get  back  her  rings  and 
things,"  Mother  Bunker  went  on.  "But  I'm 
glad  these  men  have  been  captured.  Now  we 
don't  need  to  worry  about  them,  for  the  chil- 
dren have  been  a  little  frightened,  I  think." 

While  it  may  have  been  true  that  these  par- 
ticular tramps  were  not  the  ones  that  robbed 
Mrs.  Brown,  yet  it  was  some  like  them,  as  the 
Bunkers  learned  later.  For  another  gang  of 
ragged  men  were  arrested  not  far  from  Grand 
View,  and  some  of  these  had  a  few  of  the 
trinkets  taken  from  the  farmhouse.  These 
were  given  back  to  Mrs.  Brown,  and,  later  still, 
more  of  her  jewelry  was  recovered  from  other 
tramps,  so  that  most  of  her  ornaments  were 
restored. 


240    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

As  for  Tad,  he  seemed  to  have  got  all  over 
his  runaway  habits.  He  admitted  he  had  been 
a  very  foolish  little  boy,  and  said  he  never  was 
going  to  do  anything  like  that  again.  Often 
after  the  tramps  had  been  caught  and  sent 
away,  Tad  came  over  to  play  with  the  six  little 
Bunkers.  One  day  they  had  quite  an  ad- 
venture. 

Back  of  Captain  Ben's  bungalow  was  a  barn. 
That  is,  it  had  been  a  barn  at  one  time,  but 
after  Captain  Ben  bought  the  place,  and  had 
an  automobile  in  place  of  a  horse,  he  did  not 
use  much  of  the  stable,  needing  only  room 
enough  for  his  car.  But  the  barn  made  a  fine 
place  for  the  six  little  Bunkers  to  play,  and  one 
afternoon,  when  Tad  had  called,  Russ  said : 

"Let's  go  out  to  the  barn  and  have  some 
fun!" 

"All  right!"  Tad  agreed. 

Rose  had  gone  for  a  walk  with  her  mother 
and  Margy,  but  Mun  Bun  and  Laddie  remained 
behind  to  play  with  Russ  and  Tad.  Daddy 
Bunker  and  Captain  Ben  had  gone  fishing  in 
the  motor  boat,  and  they  went  out  quite  a  dis- 
tance in  the  bay. 

"Let's  play  hide  and  go  seek!"  proposed 


THE  CAPTURE  241 

Tad,  and  this  was  agreed  to.  It  was  Tad's 
turn  to  close  his  eyes  and  give  the  others  a 
chance  to  slip  into  various  hiding  places  so 
Tad  could  not  find  them  after  he  had  opened 
his  eyes. 

"Ready  or  not  I'm  coming !"  cried  Tad,  when 
he  had  counted  up  to  five  hundred,  by  fives. 

"Wait  a  minute.  I  isn't  hided  yet!"  cried 
Mun  Bun,  and  Laddie,  who  had  picked  out  a 
good  place  behind  a  pile  of  boards  on  the  first 
floor  of  the  old  barn,  saw  his  little  brother 
going  up  the  stairs  that  led  to  a  loft  over  the 
place  where  the  horses  used  to  be  stabled. 

"Don't  fall,  Mun  Bun!"  called  Laddie  in  a 
whisper. 

"I  won't!"  answered  the  little  fellow. 

"I'll  count  a  hundred  more,"  offered  Tad, 
and  this  time,  when  he  called  "ready  or  not  I'm 
coming,"  no  one  objected.  They  were  all  well 
hidden. 

When  Tad  went  away  from  "home,"  to  look 
for  Russ  and  the  others,  Laddie  managed  to 
slip  in  "free,"  so  he  did  not  have  to  be  "it." 
Russ  also  tried  it,  but  he  was  not  so  lucky,  and 
he  was  "spied"  by  Tad,  and  it  was  Russ's  turn 
to  blind  his  eyes  next. 


242    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"Where's  Mun  Bun?"  asked  Russ,  as  Tad 
beat  him  to  the  "home." 

"He  went  up  there,"  and  Laddie  pointed  to 
the  stairs. 

"Oh,  he  oughtn't  go  up  there!"  exclaimed 
Russ.  "He  might  fall.  Come  on  down,  Mun 
Bun,"  he  called. 

"All  right,"  was  the  answer,  faint  and  far 
away.  There  was  the  sound  of  footsteps  on 
the  loft  floor  overhead  and  then  suddenly  the 
noise  of  a  fall,  and  the  voice  of  Mun  Bun  burst 
out  crying. 

"Oh,  I  failed!  I  failed!"  wailed  the  little 
fellow.  "I  failed  down  a  hole,  and  I  can't  get 
out!" 

At  the  same  time  there  was  the  sound  of 
shoes  kicking  on  wood,  and  the  sound  came 
from  one  of  the  mangers,  or  the  place  in  the 
old  horse  stalls  where  the  animals  were  given 
their  feed. 

"He  must  have  fallen  down  through  the 
place  where  they  put  the  hay !"  cried  Russ,  and 
he  and  Tad  hurried  to  the  stall.  Just  as  they 
reached  it  Mun  Bun  stood  up  in  the  manger, 
which  was  like  a  long,  narrow  box.  He  was 
covered  with  wisps  of  hay,  and  he  was  crying, 


THE  CAPTURE  243 

but  a  quick  look  showed  that  he  was  not  hurt. 

"What  happened?"  asked  Russ,  as  he  lifted 
his  little  brother  down  out  of  the  manger. 

"Oh,  I  was  hiding  upstairs,  and  I  walked 
across  the  floor,  and  then  I  failed  down  a  hole, 
and  I  thought  I  couldn't  get  out,  but  I  did," 
said  Mun  Bun. 

"I  see  how  it  happened,"  remarked  Tad. 
"There's  a  hole  cut  through  the  floor  upstairs, 
and  a  sort  of  chute  that  comes  down  into  the 
horse  stall  manger.  They  used  to  shove  hay- 
down  that  chute,  and  there  must  have  been 
some  still  stuck  in  it.  Mun  Bun  fell  down  the 
hole,  and  he  wasn't  hurt  on  account  of  the 
hay." 

So,  that  was  how  it  had  happened.  Mun 
Bun  had  stepped  into  the  hay  chute,  and,  there 
being  a  wad  of  old  fodder  still  in  it,  he  had 
been  dropped  down  gently,  almost  as  though 
down  a  dumb  waiter  shaft,  into  the  manger 
below. 

"Well,  you  didn't  find  me,  anyhow,  I  corned 
down  myself,"  said  Mun  Bun  when  he  had 
stopped  crying  and  had  been  brushed  off  by 
Russ  and  Tad. 

Then  the  boys  played  hide  and  seek  a  little 


244    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

longer,  but  Mun  Bun  did  not  again  go  up  into 
the  loft  of  the  barn  to  play. 

When  the  game  was  over  they  went  back 
to  the  house.  Mun  Bun  said  he  was  hungry, 
and  Russ  admitted  that  he,  too,  could  eat  some 
bread  and  jam. 

"If  mother's  there  she'll  give  us  some,"  he 
said  to  Tad.  "But  if  she  isn't  we  can  get  it 
ourselves." 

However,  Mrs.  Bunker  had  returned  from 
her  walk  with  Rose,  Margy  and  Vi,  and  she 
gave  the  boys  and  girls,  including  the  visitor, 
some  generous  slices  of  bread,  spread  thick 
with  raspberry  jam  which  she  had  made  from 
berries  the  children  picked  on  Captain  Ben's 
place. 

Just  as  the  six  little  Bunkers  finished  this 
late  afternoon  lunch,  there  was  a  shouting 
down  at  the  dock.  At  first  Mrs.  Bunker 
thought  something  had  happened,  but  when 
she  saw  her  husband  and  Captain  Ben  getting 
out  of  the  motor  boat,  holding  up  long  strings 
of  fish  they  had  caught,  she  knew  the  reason 
for  the  joyful  noise. 

"Oh,  what  dandy  fish !"  cried  Russ.  "I  wish 
I  could  catch  some!" 


THE  CAPTURE  245 

'We'll  take  you  along  next  time,"  promised 
his  father. 

Laddie,  who  had  gone  to  the  boat  to  look  in 
and  see  if  any  more  fish  were  there,  suddenly 
uttered  a  cry  of  pain. 

"Oh,  did  you  get  stuck  on  a  hook?"  ex- 
claimed his  mother. 

"No,  but  a  big  crab  bit  me!"  cried  Laddie, 
and  he  danced  around  with  a  crab  clinging  to 
his  finger  until  his  father  took  off  the  pinching 
creature. 

"This  crab  took  told  of  the  bait  on  my  hook," 
explained  Mr.  Bunker,  "and  he  clung  on  until 
I  lifted  him  into  the  boat.  I  forgot  he  was 
there.  Never  mind,  Laddie,  he  didn't  make 
your  finger  bleed."  For  the  crab  had  taken 
hold  of  the  little  boy's  finger  at  a  thick  part, 
and  no  blood  was  drawn. 

The  six  little  Bunkers  looked  at  the  fish 
their  father  and  Captain  Ben  had  caught,  and 
a  little  later  some  of  the  fish  were  fried  for 
supper. 

"Oh,  this  is  the  nicest  place  we  were  ever 
at,"  said  Rose  with  a  happy  little  song,  when 
the  time  came  for  Tad  to  take  the  trolley  car 
back  to  Avalon. 


246    SIX  LITTLE  BUNKERS  AT  CAPTAIN  BEN'S 

"I  wish  we  could  always  have  two  vacations 
every  year,"  remarked  Russ.  "I  want  to  make 
another  boat  before  we  go  back  home." 

"And  I  want  to  think  of  another  riddle," 
Laddie  exclaimed. 

"When  are  we  going  back?  Will  school 
open  soon?  Can  we  come  here  again?  What 
are  we  going  to  do  to-morrow?"  asked  Vi. 

"Oh,  what  a  lot  of  questions!"  laughed  her 
mother.  "We  are  not  going  back  right  away. 
We  shall  still  have  some  fun  at  Captain  Ben's." 

And  so  we  will  leave  the  six  Little  Bunkers, 
hoping  to  meet  them  again  amid  new  scenes. 


THE   END 


THE    BUNNY    BROWN    SERIES 

By  LAURA  LEE  HOPE 

Author  of  the  Popular  "Bobbsey  Twins"  Books 

Wrapper  ant  text  illustrations  drawn  by 
FLORENCE  ENGLAND  NOSWORTHY 

12mo.     DURABLY  BOUND.     ILLUSTRATED.     UNIFORM   STYLE  OF  BINDING 

These  stories  by  the  author  of  the  '  'Bobbsey  Twins' '  Books 
are  eagerly  welcomed  by  the  little  folks  from  about  five  to  ten 
years  of  age.  Their  eyes  fairly  dance  with  delight  at  the  lively 
doings  of  inquisitive  little  Bunny  Brown  and  his  cunning,  trust- 
ful sister  Sue. 

Bunny  was  a  lively  little  boy,  very  inquisitive.  When  he  did 
anything,  Sue  followed  his  leadership.  They  had  many  adven- 
tures, some  comical  in  the  extreme. 

BUNNY  BROWN  AND  HIS  SISTER  SUE 

BUNNY   BROWN  AND  HIS  SISTER   SUE  ON  GRAND- 
PA'S FARM 

BUNNY    BROWN    AND    HIS    SISTER    SUE    PLAYING 
CIRCUS 

BUNNY    BROWN   AND    HIS   SISTER   SUE   AT   CAMP 
REST-A-WHILE 

BUNNY   BROWN    AND   HIS   SISTER   SUE  AT  AUNT 
LU'S   CITY  HOME  4 

BUNNY  BROWN  AND  HIS' SISTER  "SUE  IN  THE  BIG 
WOODS 

.BUNNY  BROWN  AND  HIS  SISTER  SUE  ON  AN  AUTO 
TOUR 

BUNNY  BROWN  AND   HIS  SISTER  SUE  AND  THEIR 
SHETLAND  PONY 

BUNNY  BROWN   AND    HIS   SISTER   SUE   GIVING   A 
SHOW 

BUNNY   BROWN   AND  HIS  SISTER  SUE  AT  CHRIST- 
MAS  TREE  COVE 

Grosset  &  Dunlap,  Publishers,  New  York 


THE  I  BOBBSEY  TWINS'  BOOKS 

For  Little,  Men'  and  y Women 

By  LAURA"  LEE,'  HOPE 

Author  of  "The  Bunny>Brown'i«Series>Etc. 

12tno.      DURABLY  BOUND.      ILLUSTRATED.      UNIFORM  STYLE  OF  BINDING 

Copyright  publications  which  cannot  be  obtained  else- 
where. Books  that  charm  the  hearts  of  the  little  ones, 
and  of  which  they  never  tire. 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  IN  THE  COUNTRY 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  AT  THE  SEASHORE 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  AT  SCHOOL 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  AT  SNOW  LODGE 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  ON  A  HOUSEBOAT 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  AT  MEADOW  BROOK 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  AT  HOME 

THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  IN  A  GREAT  CITY 

THE    BOBBSEY   TWINS   ON   BLUEBERRY 

ISLAND 
THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS   ON  THE  DEEP  BLUE 

SEA 
THE  BOBBSEY  TWINS  IN  THE  GREAT  WEST 

Grosset  &  Dunlap,        Publishers,        New  York 


THE  OUTDOOR  CHUMS  SERIES 

By  CAPTAIN  QUINCY  ALLEN 

The  outdoor  chums  are  four  wide-awake  lads,  sons  of 
wealthy  men  of  a  small  city  located  on  a  lake.  The  boys 
love  outdoor  life,  and  are  greatly  interested  in  hunting,  fish- 
ing, and  picture  taking.  They  have  motor  cycles,  motor 
boats,  canoes,  etc.,  and  during  their  vacations  go  everywhere 
and  have  all  sorts  of  thrilling  adventures.  The  stories  give 
full  directions  for  camping  out,  how  to  fish,  how  to  hunt  wild 
animals  and  prepare  the  skins  for  stuffing,  how  to  manage  a 
canoe,  how  to  swim,  etc.    Full  of  the  spirit  of  outdoor  life. 

THE  OUTDOOR  CHUMS 

Or  The  First  Tour  of  the  Rod,  Gun  and  Camera  Club. 

THE  OUTDOOR  CHUMS  ON  THE  LAKE 
Or  Lively  Adventures  on  Wildcat  Island. 

THE  OUTDOOR  CHUMS  IN  THE  FOREST 
Or  Laying  the  Ghost  of   Oak  Ridge. 

THE  OUTDOOR  CHUMS  ON  THE  GULF 
Or  Rescuing  the  Lost  Balloonists. 

THE  OUTDOOR  CHUMS  AFTER  BIG  GAME 
Or   Perilous   Adventures   in  the   Wilderness. 

THE  OUTDOOR  CHUMS  ON  A  HOUSEBOAT 
Or  The  Rivals  of  the  Mississippi. 

THE  OUTDOOR  CHUMS  IN  THE  BIG  WOODS 
Or  The  Rival  Hunters  at  Lumber  Run. 

THE   OUTDOOR   CHUMS   AT   CABIN   POINT 
Or  The  Golden  Cup  Mystery. 

12mo.  Averaging  240  pages.  Illustrated.  Handsomely 
bound  in  Cloth. 

Grosset  &  Dunlap,        Publishers,        New  York 


THE   GIRLS    OF    CENTRAL 
HIGH    SERIES 

By  GERTRUDE  W.  MORRISON 

[        i       '  ■ 

12mo.  BOUND  IN  CLOTH.       ILLUSTRATE!.       UfUTOftM  STYLE  OF  BINOMBe 

Here  is  a  series  full  of  the  spirit  of  high  school  life  of  to- 
day. The  girls  are  real  flesh-and-blood  characters,  and  we  fol- 
low them  with,  interest  in  school  and  out  There  are  many 
contested  matches  on  track  and  field,  and  on  the  water,  as  well 
as  doings  in  the  classroom  and  on  the  school  stage.  There  is 
plenty  of  fun  and  excitement,  all  clean,  pure  and  wholesome, 

THE  GIRLS  OF  CENTRAL  HIGH 
Or  Rivals  for  all  Honors. 

A  stirring  tale  of  high,  school  life,  full  of  fun,  with  a  touch 
of  mystery  and  a  strange  initiation. 

THE  GIRLS  OF  CENTRAL  HIGH  ON  LAKE  LUNA 
Or  The  Crew  That  Won. 

Telling  of  water  sports  and  fan  galore,  and  of  fine  times  In  camp, 

THE  GIRLS  OF  CENTRAL  HIGH  AT  BASKETBALL 
Or  The  Great  Gymnasium  Mystery. 

Sere  we  have  a  number  of  thrilling  contests  at  basketball  and  In 
addition,  the  solving  of  a  mystery  which  had  bothered  the  high 
echool  authorities  for  a  long  while, 

THE  GIRLS  OF  CENTRAL  HIGH  ON  THE  STAGE 
Or  The  Play  That  Took  the  Prize. 

How  the  girls  went  in  for  theatricals  and  how  one  of  them  wrote 
a  play  which  afterward  was  mad*  over  for  the  professional  stage 
and  brought  in  some  much-needed  money. 

THE  GIRLS  OF  CENTRAL  HIGH  ON  TRACK  AND 

FIELD 
Or  The  Girl  Champions  of  the  School  League 

This  story  takes  in  high  school  athletics  in  their  most  approved 
land  up-to-date  fashion.    Full  of  fun  and  excitement. 

THE  GIRLS  OF  CENTRAL  HIGH  IN  CAMP 
Or  The  Old  Professor's  Secret 

The  girls  went  camping  on  Acorn  Island  and  had  a  delightful 
time  at  boating,  swimming  and  picnic  parties. 

Grosset  &  Dunlap,  Publishers,        New  York 


THE  MOVING  PICTURE  GIRLS 
SERIES 

By  LAURA  LEE  HOPE 

Author  of  "The  Bobbsey  Twins  Series." 

12mo.  BOUND  IN  CLOTH.       ILLUSTRATED.       UNIFORM  STYLE  OF  BINDING 

The  adventures  of  Ruth  and  Alice  DeVere.  Their  father, 
a  widower,  is  an  actor  who  has  taken  up  work  for  the 
"movies."  Both  girls  wish  to  aid  him  in  his  work  and  visit 
various  localities  to  act  in  all  sorts  of  pictures. 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  GIRLS 

Or  First  Appearance  in  Photo  Dramas. 

Having  lost  his  voice,  the  father  of  the  girls  goes  into  the  movies 
and  the  girls  follow.     Tells  how  many  "parlor  dramas"  are  filmed- 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  GIRLS  AT  OAK  FARM 
Or  Queer  Happenings  While  Taking  Rural  Plays. 

Full  of  fun  m  the  country,  the  haps  and  mishaps  of  taking  film 
plays,   and  giving  an   account   of  two   unusual   discoveries. 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  GIRLS  SNOWBOUND 
Or  The  Proof  on  the  Film. 

A  tale  of  winter  adventures  in  the  wilderness,  showing  how  the 
photo-play   actors   sometimes   suffer. 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  GIRLS  UNDER  THE  PALMS 
Or  Lost  in  the  Wilds  of  Florida. 

How  they  went  to  the  land  of  palms,  played  many  parts  in  dramas 
before  the   camera;    were   lost,   and    aided   others   who    were   also   lost. 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  GIRLS  AT  ROCKY  RANCH 
Or  Great  Days  Among  the  Cowboys. 

All  whe  have  ever  seen  moving  pictures  of  the  great  West  will 
want_  to  know  just  how  they  are  made.  This  volume  gives  every  detail 
and  is  full  of  clean  fun  and  excitement. 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  GIRLS  AT  SEA 
Or  a  Pictured  Shipwreck  that  Became  Real. 

A  thrilling  account  of  the  girls'  experiences  on  the  water. 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  GIRLS  IN  WAR  PLAYS 
Or  The  Sham  Battles  at  Oak  Farm. 

The  girls  play  important  parts  in  big  battle  scenes  and  have  plenty 
of  hard   work  along  with   considerable  fum. 

Grossf.t  &  Dunlap,        Publishers,         New  York 


^THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS 
SERIES' 

By  VICTOR  APPLETON 

I-     12mo.  BOUND  IN  CLOTH.       ILLUSTRATES.       UM1FC8M  STYLE  OF  BINDING. 

'  Moving  pictures  and  photo  plays  are  famous  the  world 
over,  and  in  this  line  of  books  the  reader  is  given  a  full 
description  of  how  the  films  are  made — the  scenes  of  little 
dramas,  indoors  and  out,  trick  pictures  to  satisfy  the  curious, 
soul-stirring  pictures  of  city  affairs,  life  in  the  Wild  West, 
among  the  cowboys  and  Indians,  thrilling  rescues  along  the 
seacoast,  the  daring  of  picture  hunters  in  the  jungle  among 
savage  beasts,  and  the  great  risks  run  in  picturing  conditions 
in  a  land  of  earthquakes.  The  volumes  mteem  with  adven- 
tures and  will  be  found  interesting  from  first  chapter  to  last. 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS 
Or  Perils  of  a  Great  City  Depicted. 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  IN  THE  WEST 
Or  Taking  Scenes  Among  the  Cowboys  and  Indians. 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  ON  THE  COAST 
Or  Showing  the  Perils  of  the  Deep. 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  IN  THE  JUNGLE 
Or  Stirring  Times  Among  the  Wild  Animals. 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  IN  EARTHQUAKE 
Or  Working  Amid  Many  Perils.  LAND 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  AND  THE  FLOOD 
Or   Perilous  Days  on  the  Mississippi. 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  AT  PANAMA 
Or  Stirring  Adventures  Along  the  Great  Canal. 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  UNDER  THE  SEA 
Or  The  Treasure  of  the  Lost  Ship. 

Grosset  &  Dunlap,        Publishers,        New  Yobr 


'■';■'■:■■        J  ',.  '■:.' ■'•■v:"-r"'-.:  \.  ' 


